Theorising

Question 1

Why do we need theory?

Answer 1

1. We cannot always get to the real reason why political actors do what they do by asking them - they may not tell the truth
2. We need to locate “reasons” actors take action in wider contexts that these actors may not even realise.
   * Explanatory theory for example neo or structured realism (Walt 1979) predictive capacity/problem solving
   * Critical theory - identify and criticise social arrangements - feminist theories
   * Normative theory - identify alternative futures that don’t exist - utopian - Marxist
   * Constitutive theory - study of social objects for example the state

Question 2

What is the first debate?

Answer 2

Between realism and idealism in the 30’s and 40’s

Question 3

What is the fourth debate?

Answer 3

Rationalist (neorealism and neoliberalism) vs Reflectivist (feminism and poststructuralism). Positivism and Post Positivism or explaning and understanding. The debate is more epistemological and methodological ie how we know what we claim to know..

Question 4

What is the third debate?

Answer 4

Realism, Liberalism and Marxism - what they really debated was focus of study - often cited as incommensurability of realist, pluralist and globalist. Realism explained the bipolar structure of the international system, liberalism covered secondary issues to do with institutions and trade, Marxism look at relative economic power and structure inequality.

Question 5

Constructivism

Answer 5

Social theory of international relations - 80’s. States are social rather than material. Alexander Wendt.
constructivism focuses on ideas of norms, the development of structures, the relationship between actors and said structures, as well as how identity influences actions and behavior amongst and between actors (Reus-Smit, 2005: 188), as well as how norms themselves shape an actor’s character (Reus-Smith, 2005:198).

Question 6

Epistemology

Answer 6

A branch of philosophy that ask how know what we know. One of the most influential theories = empiricism which emphasizes the centrality of empirical observation.

Question 7

Ontology

Answer 7

A branch of philosophy that studies the nature of being - what we study. Realists claim states are the key ontological units, feminists, constructivists study social ontologies ie emphasis on social interactions between states and other actors such as genders or classes

Question 8

Positivism

Answer 8

Philosophy of science founded on empiricism: sensory experience provides knowledge, assumption of naturalism in unity of natural and social sciences and possibility of facts ie separate normative, political and ethical from factual. Emphasis on quantitative methods. See fourth debate. Not positivism is not epistemology.

Question 9

First debate - realist perspective

Answer 9

Hans Morgenthau and EH Carr (realists) criticised the unsystematic and value driven idealist approach. But idealists look to create a scientific academic discipline. Realist critique challenged liberal attention on focusing the world on how it should be not how it was - science and alchemy. Morgenthau objective laws. Carr relativity of thought,..

Question 10

Explaining and Understanding: the 4th debate

Answer 10

Scientific vs interpretive approach as per Hollis and Smith. Explanatory theiories seek to emulate natural sciences while understanding approaches aim to account for agent’s actors from within through interpreting actors meanings, beliefs and reasons

Question 11

Rationalism

Answer 11

Form of theorising that uses rational choice explanation in its explanatory framework - prisoner’s dilemma - Keohane (1988) used it to highlight similarities between neo liberal and neorealists. Rational choice theory is a methodology constructed from a positivist account of science.

Question 12

Rationality

Answer 12

A rational actor calculates the costs and benefits of different course of action and chooses the course of action that provides the highest net pay off. They behave strategically meaning they take into account the reactions of others. NB assumption in neorealist and neoliberal theories

Question 13

What is the second debate?

Answer 13

Neorealism and neoliberalism - sixties -

Question 14

Reflectivist

Answer 14

Philosophy of science. Used by Robert Keohane (1988) to refer to theorists that reject rational choice methods and the positivist approach - refers feminism, critical theory and poststructuralism. See fourth debate.

Question 15

Normative IR theory

Answer 15

A field of study that draws on combination of political theory, moral philosophy and IR to address explicitly ethical questions about international politicas

Question 16

Meta theory

Answer 16

Underlying philosophical assumptions that inform theoretical approaches. Engages with questions of ontology, epistemology and methodology - theory about theory

Question 17

Scientific Realism

Answer 17

Philosophy of science that aims to overcome limitations of positivist philosophy of science. Critical realism is a close associate: belief in the independent existence of reality. Methodologically they embrace pluralism. John Mearsheimer and Walt committed.

Question 18

Describe how the international system came about?

Answer 18

Premised on the idea of the sovereign state in which states have control over their territory and self determination.
In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War between Catholic states and Protestant states in western and central Europe, established our modern international system. It declared that the sovereign leader of each nation-state could do as she or he wished within its borders and established the state as the main actor in global politics. From that point forward, the international system has consisted primarily of relations among nation-states.

Shifting Balances of Power (1600–1800)
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the nation-state emerged as the dominant political unit of the international system. A series of powerful states dominated Europe, with the great powers rising and falling

Emergence of Nationalism (1800–1945)

The nineteenth century brought two major changes to the international system

Nationalism emerged as a strong force, allowing nation-states to grow even more powerful.
Italy and Germany became unified countries, which altered the balance of military and economic power in Europe.he problems raised by the unification of Germany contributed to World War I (1914–1918). In the aftermath of the war, the international system changed dramatically again. The major powers of Europe had suffered greatly, whereas the United States began to come out of its isolation and transform into a global power. At the same time, the end of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires created a series of new nations, and the rise of communism in Russia presented problems for other nations. These factors contributed to the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Nazism and communism, and World War II (1939–1945).

Question 19

Describe the difference between how realists, liberals and constructivists view the international system?

Answer 19

It is true that all three theories recognized that the international system is anarchical; there does not exist an overarching power to govern world affairs. However, scholars of these theories disagree on state behavior in this anarchical system. For example, realists view anarchy as a condition that leads to state competition for resources, security, and power. Liberalists/pluralists, on the other hand, view cooperation through international organizations as possible under an anarchical system; these institutions can help bring about positive gains for state and non-state actors; they are not constrained by the “negatives” of an anarchical international system. Constructivists also focus on the idea of anarchy, but they depart from prior positions on the anarchical system. Specifically, constructivists disagree with the realist position that anarchy inherently leads to competition and war. As one of the foremost scholars on constructivism, Alexander Wendt (1992), in his seminal article Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics, says, “self-help and power politics do not follow either logically or causally from anarchy and that if today we find ourselves in a self-help world, this is due to process, not structure.

Question 20

Uniplolar, bipolar, multipolar - what does this mean?

Answer 20

New World Orders (1945–Present)
The end of World War II marked a decisive shift in the global system. After the war, only two great world powers remained: the United States and the Soviet Union. Although some other important states existed, almost all states were understood within the context of their relations with the two superpowers. This global system was called Bipolar because the system centered on two great powers.

Since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, the nature of the world has changed again. Only one superpower remains, leading some scholars to label the new international system Unipolar. Others point to the increasing economic power of some European and Asian states and label the new system Multipolar. To some extent, both terms are accurate. The United States has the world’s most powerful military, which supports the unipolar view, but the U.S. economy is not as powerful, relative to the rest of the world, lending credence to the multipolar view.