Liberalism And Institutionalism

Question 1

Liberalisms: Political Theory

Answer 1

• political theory is response to monarchy and absolutism; liberty, rights, equality, social contract, toleration

John Locke (1632-1704) - social contract
Adam Smith (1723-1790) - capitalism
John Stuart mill (1806-1873) - social welfare

Question 2

Liberalism: IR Theory

Answer 2

• Domestic structure and institutions shape foreign policy and international order
• Capitalism will inevitably work best
• International institutions will moderate conflict and increase knowledge of others’ intentions

Robert Keohane (1941- ): American IR Theorist, After Hegemony (1984)

Question 3

Neoliberalism

Answer 3

Realism develops into neorealism: structure rather than agents

Liberalism develops into neoliberalism: structure and agents, anarchic system can lead to cooperation

Question 4

Liberal Institutionalism

Answer 4

Jennifer Sterling-Folker
1. Bargaining: all institutions result from a process of bargaining amongst states, bargains are shaped by and shape actual institution design
2. Defection: the big fear in an isntitution is some states will ‘defect’ .
3. Autonomy: Outside of the creation of the institution, there is an interest in how autonomous the institutions are once created

Share realist assumptions: states are rational actors & systems are archaic
Institutions provide: lower transaction costs, shared information, focal points for cooperation

Question 5

Liberal Intergovernmentalism

Answer 5

A liberal theory applied to the European Union
- IR Liberliasm is a social scientific theory not an ideology
- Three key assumptions: 1. Societal actors are primary 2. States represent some or all of those actors’ interests 3. Interdependent international system

The state is not an actor but a representative of interests and individuals

Question 6

Liberal World Order

Answer 6

Defined by global cooperation, global capitalism, and international institutions
I.e. western led agenda during the Cold War and after

Question 7

Relative and Absolute Gains

Answer 7

Relative gains - my gain is measured against my neighbor;realist focus, security focus

Absolute gains - my gain is measured against what I had previously; liberal focus, wealth focus

Question 8

Game Theory

Answer 8

• tool for mapping interactions
  A. Cooperation and/or conflict
  B. Not a theory but a method
• assumes rationality
  A. Individual agents act rationally
  B. All acting rationally may lead to conflict

-prediction
A. Method without substantive content
B. Possible outcomes

Question 9

Prisoner’s Dilemma

Answer 9

Conclusions:
- cooperation unlikely when information not known, likely when information is known, possible/likely as the game is played

Critique:
- no context so not applicable, states are agents ignores the individuals and other agents, knowing others does not lead to peace

Domestic politics and international politics negotiations take place simultaneously, negotiators try to find a ‘win-win’ set

Question 10

Theory and Evidence

Answer 10

Tim Dunne Dunne and Milja Kurki, “International Relations and Social Science”
- explaining/understanding, positivism/post-positivism, rationalism/reflectivism
- realism/neorealism, liberalism/neoliberalism, some variants of constructivism- seek to explain problems, answer why questions.

Liberal Institutionalism/Intergovernmentalism is a positivist theory
•Collect evidence on a problem
•Use the evidence to find general patterns in the world
•Use those patterns to generate new questions

Question 11

Institutions

Answer 11

International institutions (UN): treaty based institutions in which states retain control, bureaucracies beholden to state interests

Supranational institutions (EU): treaty based in which authority is delegated upward, bureaucracies not just beholden to states but may constrain them

Alliances (NATO) : treaty based institution

Question 12

European Union

Answer 12

• European Parliament: members elected but district, do not represent states, partial legislator
• European Council: members are heads of state or government
• Council of the EU: state representative for issues under considerations, partial legislator
• European Commission: members are state representatives but elect

European Commission, Court of Justice, Central Banks, Court of Auditors

Question 13

European Integration

Answer 13

• a process with many steps, focus on one step in that process, focus on one-step: the single European act (1986)
• SEA: negotiation from September 1985 to February 1986, formally created the European Parliament, increasing the powers of the EP and created new decision making procedures for the whole EU

Question 14

Brexit and Prisoner’s Dilemma

Answer 14

-EU resolves information and intention problem: two or more governments understand each other, constant dialogue to create rules and regulations

• EU UK negotiations could be modeled on Prisoners’ Dilemma: both sides benefit from not cooperating, do not know the other side’s interests, Internal Market Bill may be bargaining

Question 15

EU and Relative V. Absolute Gains

Answer 15

• EU provides absolute gains to all parties: increases wealth through trade and finance, increases security by ensuring cooperation on policing, prevention of war
• EU UK relationship may be about relative gains; UK wants to reclaim ‘sovereignty’, create trade with others, EU wants to ensure continued finance from EU

Question 16

Brexit and Liberalism

Answer 16

• Brexit was a democratic referendum
• Liberliasm is about individual rights

Question 17

Alternative explanations: Integration

Answer 17

European Court of Justice
- court rulings create more constitutional law, decisions bind agents

Leadership

Realist explanation
- threat, spark, leaders

Question 18

Alternative Explanations: Brexit

Answer 18

Realist explanations
- UK better allied with US than EU
- UK trade with a wider and more diverse market

Liberal explanation
- democracy rather than social pluralism better explains outcome

Constructivist explanation
- ideas of British sovereignty
- ideas of being a European