Liberal Theory Of International Relations Flashcards
Foreign policy decision-making
The primacy of social actors
Individuals and groups within society (rational, on the average) pursue their particular interests
Bottom up view of politics
Representations and state preference
Political institutions/ governments : states as mechanism of representation through which particular interests are aggregates, filtered, synthesized
On the basis, state preferences are formed
Individuals and groups exert pressure on the state (elections, lobbying, pressure politics) to enact policies consistent with their preferences
Since there are always differences in access and power: some particular interests will be privileged
State preferences are the product of translating societal pressure and a multitude of (conflicting) interests into one foreign policy
Moravcsik’ liberal theory of international relations
Liberal theory as a theory
Non-ideological
Liberalism as an analytical theory
Vs anomalies of other theories
Empirically accurate
Non-utopian
A scientific theory, not a vision
Parsi-monious
A coherent, slender body of core ideas, no intellectual history
Set of positive assumptions
From which to derive explanations and predictions
Foreign policy decision making
Configuration of interdependent state preferences determine state behavior
States aim at realizing their preferences under constraints imposed by preferences of other states
Policy interdependence (the compatibility of the policies of states) decides about the quality of interstate interaction
Harmony of preferences /policies: peace, absence of conflict
Preferences are zero-sum, deadlocked : conflict (maybe war)
Mixed situations: negotiation, bargaining (possibly: coordination, cooperation
International politics (from the liberal perspective)
Since liberal theory then talks about systemic outcomes of interstate interactions (interactions based on domestically shaped preference sets)..
It goes beyond foreign policy (more than just a unit-level theory)
Differs from realism: not the distribution of power( and not the anarchical structure of the international system per se) determine international politics, but the configuration of state preferences
