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Questions and Answers
What are international institutions?
What are international institutions?
Cooperatives with more than one state.
What do treaties consist of?
What do treaties consist of?
A contract between two or more states.
Which of the following are types of international institutions? (Select all that apply)
Which of the following are types of international institutions? (Select all that apply)
Regimes are sets of guidelines and rules that govern state behavior.
Regimes are sets of guidelines and rules that govern state behavior.
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What is the purpose of international regimes?
What is the purpose of international regimes?
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What may cause a state to withdraw from a treaty?
What may cause a state to withdraw from a treaty?
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What can international norms influence in state behavior? (Select all that apply)
What can international norms influence in state behavior? (Select all that apply)
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Treaties can dissolve implicitly from _____ treaties.
Treaties can dissolve implicitly from _____ treaties.
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What does the power of norms signify in international relations?
What does the power of norms signify in international relations?
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Norms require constant application of punishment to be effective.
Norms require constant application of punishment to be effective.
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Match the following terms with their definitions:
Match the following terms with their definitions:
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What is constructivism?
What is constructivism?
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What does feminism aim to achieve?
What does feminism aim to achieve?
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Which of the following describes the key focus of liberal feminism?
Which of the following describes the key focus of liberal feminism?
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Standpoint feminism suggests that women and men have different perspectives.
Standpoint feminism suggests that women and men have different perspectives.
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What is post-modern feminism critical of?
What is post-modern feminism critical of?
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What do norms in international relations represent?
What do norms in international relations represent?
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What is the relationship between gender and security in feminism?
What is the relationship between gender and security in feminism?
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According to Huntington, civilizations will clash due to common cultures such as ___.
According to Huntington, civilizations will clash due to common cultures such as ___.
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What is the critique of standpoint theory?
What is the critique of standpoint theory?
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What were the key features of post-modern feminism?
What were the key features of post-modern feminism?
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Study Notes
International Institutions and Treaties
- International institutions consist of cooperatives with more than one state and can take many forms, including International Governmental Organizations, International Treaties, and International Declarations.
- International governmental organizations most often consist of cracies and have components such as buildings, personnel, mandates, budgets, and operating procedures.
Treaties and Regimes
- Treaties are contracts between two or more states that are seen as equal before the law, with no law above what states create for themselves.
- Treaties become binding after they meet a specified condition of acceptance or ratification.
- States can create their own rules and exceptions to those rules, known as reservations.
- Rotations are written into the treaty and allow all members to take exceptions under specific conditions.
- Leaving a treaty is not just a matter of opting out of a particular part, but rather withdrawing from the entire treaty, and states must not make it impossible for others to fulfill their obligations.
- Most treaties establish how states must leave treaties, with some notice.
Regime Theory
- Regime theory helps states cooperate more and move away from defect-defect and cooperate-cooperate scenarios.
- Assumptions in regime theory include the convergence of expectations and the support of state cooperation.
- Regimes facilitate the convergence of exceptions and assist in the cooperation of states.
International Regimes
- International regimes are sets of rules, norms, and treaties that govern the conduct of states in a particular issue area.
- Regimes have definitions and can be broken down into functional parts, including principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and more.
Functionalism
- Functionalism posits that international institutions function like organisms, with each part contributing to the functioning of the whole.
- International regimes exist through functional parts, including principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and more.
Neo-Liberal Institutionalist Theory
- Neo-liberal institutionalist theory explains why states create regimes, including reducing transaction costs, coordinating activity, and creating increased transparency and trust.
Decision Making
- Decision making in international relations involves making choices that reduce conflict and promote cooperation.
- Theories of decision making include rational choice, misperceptions and errors, and organizational and political decision making.
- Rationality is central to economic and game theory and involves making the best decision based on available information.
- Formal rationality involves examining all possible choices, determining the benefits of each, and choosing the highest utility option.
Are States Rational?
- States may not always act rationally, but they may act as if they are rational even when they are not.
- Rationality can be limited by individual hyper-rationality, bounded rationality, and cognitive limitations.
Constructivism
- Constructivism aims to understand and interpret the world around us, incorporating both objective and subjective elements.
- Constructivist theory posits that structures are created by human interaction and shared ideas, rather than material factors.
- Agency and structure are mutually constitutive, and material factors have meaning dependent on social structures.
- Constructivism emphasizes the importance of material factors, but also recognizes the role of social structures in shaping our understanding of the world.### Removing Power Structures and Individuals
- Scholars should work to remove power structures and individuals that dominate others through the discovery or development of knowledge.
- Freedom and knowledge are inherently connected.
Good and Just Society
- A good and just society should universalize some moral principles, reduce material inequality, and respect ethnic, cultural, and gender differences.
Constructivism
- Constructivist ideas provide no alternative to the current international system that is promised to be better.
- There is little empirical evidence to back up claims of better systems that can be designed.
- Constructivism relies on collective understandings rather than objective realities.
- International politics is determined by perceptions of reality that groups maintain differently.
Norms and Culture
- Norms are created through collective action and pushing those who don't conform.
- Later, the norm becomes common practice and is not necessary to punish violators.
- Punishment is costly for individuals and governments, and norms are more efficient.
- Meta-norms may also operate.
Culture
- Culture is determined by geography, religious beliefs, and level of development.
- Different cultures exist, such as Individualism vs. Statism.
- Examples of potential cultural influences include trade and conflict with other countries.
- Huntington's thesis suggests that civilizations will clash in the near future.
Feminism and International Relations
- Feminism is a social theory that explains and changes the way the world works.
- Feminism blurs the distinction between the public and private sphere, focusing on eliminating individual security problems.
- Security includes all forms of violence, including physical, structural, and ecological.
- There are different types of feminism, including liberal, standpoint, and post-modern feminism.
Liberal Feminism
- Liberal feminism aims to remove barriers for women and increase their representation in politics.
- Critics argue that liberal feminism ignores deeper roots of discrimination and gender differences.
Standpoint Feminism
- Standpoint feminism suggests that women and men have different standpoints and views.
- Power for feminists is the ability to make change and work together, not control.
- Critiques argue that standpoint feminism is not static and erodes as women take positions of power.
Post-Modern Feminism
- Post-modern feminism critiques gender in international relations and suggests that all interpretations of the world are influenced by gender.
- Critiques argue that post-modern feminism reduces the ability to emancipate women and denies knowledge and truth.
Women and War
- Women and children have become greater casualties during more recent wars.
- Women are often forced into prostitution around military bases.
- Women's roles in war and gendered notions of honor and strength are complex and multifaceted.
Women and Economics
- Women's subordination in economic development stems from gendered terms.
- Gender and work are also closely tied, with women often entering "caring" careers and shouldering the bulk of domestic work.### International Treaties and Regimes
- Treaties are agreements between states
- Regimes consist of a set of rules, guidelines, and exceptions to those rules, created to facilitate cooperation between states
Regime Theory
- Functionalism: states create regimes to maintain stability and contribute to the functioning of the whole
- Each part of the regime is interdependent, and the whole cannot function without each part
Why Do States Create Regimes?
- Reduce transaction costs
- Coordinate activities
- Increase transparency and trust
The Power of Norms
- Norms are weaker than laws but can reach further
- Once internationalized, norms become usual behavior
- There is no punishment for not following norms
Decision Making in IR
- States act in their self-interest
- Decision making involves:
- Exploring all choices
- Examining values
- Picking the best choice
- Rationality is an ideal, not a reality
- Individual hyper-rationality is not possible
- Cognitive consistency: we understand facts in a way that is consistent with our prior understanding
Cognitive Biases in Decision Making
- Simplification and stereotyping
- Negative and positive effects of stress on decision making
- Prospect theory: people take risks to avoid losses, not to achieve gains
Group Think
- Social dynamics that interfere with rationality
- Conformity and group identification
- Imitation and self-censorship
- Unanimity and pressure on oppositional statements
- Group think results in more extreme decisions and self-reinforcing decisions
Other Non-Rational Decision Making Models
- Bureaucratic politics model: competition among groups
- Organizational politics: routines based on history, not future possibilities
Decision Making Summary
- Few decisions are hyper-rational
- Groupthink and bureaucratic politics are common obstacles to rational decision making
- Newer models of decision making, such as poliheuristic decision making, are being developed
Positivism and Constructivism
- Positivism: the world is an objective, separate reality that can be observed and known
- Constructivism: the world is constructed through our beliefs, identities, and social interactions
Phenomenology and Hermeneutics
- Phenomenology: the study of how our ideas and beliefs affect our understanding of the world
- Hermeneutics: language gives meaning to objects
Intersubjective Agreement and Sovereignty
- Intersubjective agreement: shared norms and rules that define sovereignty
- Sovereignty is not an objective part of the system, but a convergence of shared expectations and ideas
Norms and Rules
- Norms: values that define appropriate behavior
- Norms can operate as either constitutive or regulative rules
- Constitutive rules define and create an activity or identity
- Regulative rules constrain an existing activity
Critical Theory and Post-Modernism
- Critical theory: promotes emancipation and freedom from oppression
- Post-modernism: everything is constructed by our minds, and knowledge is power
Constructivist Review
- Constructivism: collective understanding, not objective realities
- Partially determines behavior
Logic of Decision Making
- Logic of appropriateness: what is normal or appropriate
- Logic of consequences: evaluation of consequences
Culture and Conflict
- Geographical, religious, economic, and cultural factors that influence conflict
- Huntington's thesis: civilizations will clash, and the West will conflict with Islamic and Confucian civilizations
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Description
This quiz covers the basics of international institutions, including their forms and characteristics. Learn about International Governmental Organizations and more.
