International Politics | Chapter 11 - International Law and Norms

International Law

a body of rules that binds states and other agents in world politics and is considered to have the status of law.

sovereignty (especially that all states are formally equal and have equal rights to make international law).

in contemporary international law, what is the primary unifying concept that rules relate to?

Primary Rules

these are the negative and positive injunctions regulating behavior. Negative injunctions take the form of "do not do X" where X is some more or less clearly specified action. Positive injunctions take the form of "must do Y" where Y is also some specified action.

Secondary Rules

these address rule making itself and specify the powers and processes that create or change primary rules. One can think of these as the constitution that structures the making of primary rules.

what does it mean to be governed by the "rule of law?"

to set and enforce primary rules in ways that are consistent with secondary rules. (it is the existence of secondary rules and primary rules enacted in compliance with these secondary rules that make a rule lawful or legitimate).

Customary International Law

international law that usually develops slowly, over time, as states recognize practices as appropriate and correct.

What is a classic example of a customary international law?

the law of diplomatic immunity (where ambassadors and other embassy staff are exempt from a host nation's law).

what are the two principal mechanisms for making international law?

customary international law, international treaties

customs

develops slowly over time (ex: diplomatic immunity, freedom of the seas, crimes against humanity) - oldest form of international law

treaties

begin in a convention that brings states together - can involve hard bargaining (winner and loser) - once finalized, treaties must be ratified by each member state (state opted to be bound by international law) - ratification voluntary

obligation

the degree to which states are legally bound by an international rule. High-________ rules must be performed in good faith and, if breeched, require reparations to the injured party.

compliance unconditional

high-obligation law - clear outline of what states can and cannot do (ex: WTO treaties)

aspirational compliance

low-obligation laws (ex: human rights treaties)

precision

the degree to which international legal obligations are fully specified. More _________ rules narrow the scope for reasonable interpretation.

delegation

the degree to which third parties, such as courts, arbitrators, or mediators, are given authority to implement, interpret, and apply international legal rules, to resolve disputes over the rules, or to make additional rules.

what are the three dimensions in which international law varies?

obligation, precision, delegation

hard law

obligatory, precisely defined, and delegates substantial authority to third parties (particularly international courts).

soft law

exhortatory. ambiguous, and does not delegate significant powers to third parties.

lack of state capacity

drive compliance failure (weak governments)

imprecise law

laws follow practice (states behave how they want and then eventually follow "law")

NOTE: SOFT LAW

NOTE: SOFT LAW

countries often adopt soft law because it is easier to achieve, is more flexible and therefore better suited to dealing with uncertain futures, infringes less on state sovereignty, and facilitates compromise. Soft law is not a failure of law making but reflects intentional choices by states to write law appropriate to the issue area or to the extent of cooperation they are currently prepared to accept.

from an optimist of international law's point of view, states usually comply with international law. What are the two reasons why countries sometimes fail to do so?

the law itself may be imprecise, they lack the capacity to fulfill their obligations.

from a more skeptical point of view, people see international law as unrealistic for two reasons. What are they?

law is rarely precise enough to deal with every possible interaction between actors, international law is the product of states' interests and interactions. (states decide the rules by which they will constrain themselves, including the degree to which these rules are obligatory, precise, and delegated).

General Note: Skeptics of International Law

General Note: Skeptics of International Law:

international law doesn't constrain states, despite seemingly high levels of compliance with the law. Rather, countries only sign agreements and make laws that serve their interests and obligate them to undertake actions they would want to do anyway. With states crafting the laws that constrain them and then interpreting their meaning for their own purposes, it is very difficult for scholars to demonstrate conclusively that international law has an effect on state behavior over and above state interest.

what is the enforcement of international law dependent on?

self-help (there is no central authority higher than the state or than can enforce law between states. even in the most legalized area of international relations, world trade, the WTO only permits victims of illegal trade to retaliate by imposing punitive duties on goods purchased from the violator).

international law is generally followed because of the real and important benefits of cooperation it enables. How does international law facilitate cooperation? (4)

setting obligatory standards of behavior, helping to verify compliance (by articulating more or less precise rules), lowering the cost of decision making (by creating rules that don't need to be renegotiated for each interaction), managing disputes.

compliance constituencies

make international law more effective. for example, a state signs a human rights treaty so non-government organizations NGOs within the state help see that through.

General Note

General Note:

it is the anticipated benefits of cooperation that lead states to create international law in the first place, it's the actual benefits of cooperation that lead them to comply with the rules once they are in place. Widespread transgressions of law undermines the gains from cooperation that states seek, and states fear that the set of rules will unravel and destroy cooperation. This fear of cooperation breaking down prevents states from violating law in pursuit of their short-term interests. The more states have to lose, the more international law will shape their interactions and alter outcomes.

norms

standards of behavior for actors with a given identity; these define what actions are "right" or appropriate under particular circumstances.

constitutive norms

constitute the meaning of sovereignty and identify who is an appropriate/legitimate actor in international politics - norms shape sovereignty (ex: state flags, anthems, etc.)

procedural norms

like secondary rules in international law - establish how a norm is created (powerful states have special rights because their support essential for multilateralism)

regulative norms

govern behavior of actors' interactions - what's okay and what's forbidden (ex: nuclear taboo)

what are the three broad categories in which you can group norms?

constitutive, procedural, regulative

"territorial integrity" norm

since 1945, there has been a growing norm against changing international borders through the use of force, what is this norm called?

norms entrepreneurs

individuals and groups who seek to advance principled standards of behavior for states and other actors.

Transnational Advocacy Network (TAN)

A set of individuals and non-governmental organizations acting in pursuit of a normative objective. These are global civil society groups that are dedicated to particular political, economic, and social causes. Norms entrepreneurs usually form these. They can be important in spreading ideas and building support for new constraints on states.

framing an issue

how TAN's start their organization or campaign. for example, the issue with whaling.

Greenpeace

the example of a TAN. an international organization that works for environmental conservation and the preservation of endangered species

Within TANs, the constituent actors may include: (5)

international and domestic NGOs (involved in research and advocacy), local social movements, foundations and other philanthropic organizations, the media, churches trade unions consumer and other civil organizations.

norms life cycle

a three-stage model of how norms diffuse within a population and achieve a "taken-for-granted" status. Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, two leading scholars of norms in international relations, created this.

what is the first stage of the "norms life cycle?"

norms entrepreneurs actively work to convince a critical mass of other individuals in other states to embrace their beliefs. (its during the first stage that most TANs develop as vehicles for the dissemination of new norms).

what is the second stage of the "norms life cycle?"

once a new frame has taken hold, a norms cascade takes place and the frame passes a tipping point where it gains sufficient support and becomes a universal standard of behavior to which others can be held accountable.

(the tipping point is hard to identify in advance; it is determined not only by the number of actors that adopt the new belief but also by those actors' leadership within the international community).

what is the third state of the "norms life cycle?"

norms are internalized or become so widely accepted that they acquire the taken-for-granted quality that makes conforming almost automatic. (few norms governing interactions between states have reached this final stage, although the nuclear taboo may be close)

NOTE: NORMS ENTREPRENEURS

NOTE: NORMS ENTREPRENEURS

they find creative ways to connect the behavior they wish to encourage to other, preexisting norms; because these norms are already widely accepted, audiences are likely to see the value in the desired behaviors or ends. Activists "win" by framing principles they want to promote so that they connect to principles that are already accepted in a community.

what are the two ways to make people conform to the new norm?

coercion (economic sanctions in the case of human rights norms), socialization (basically peer pressure).

what are the two ways in which norms constrain states and other actors?

by redefining interests, by changing their interactions.

naming and shaming

this is a practice used by TANs to enforce norms by calling attention to violations of widely held beliefs. Although this might seem like a weak tool to leverage good compliance from otherwise strong states, over the long run it can severely weaken a state's reputation and put potentially profitable cooperation at risk.

TANs as endorsers

information shortcuts for law makers; enhance prospects for cooperation by clarifying the issues at hand

TANs as monitors

- Self-reporting

- Direct monitoring

- Rely of trustworthy TANs to monitor

boomerang model

a process through which NGOs in one state are able to activate transnational linkages to bring pressure from other states on their own governments. This process is most likely to be effective when NGOs are blocked from influencing their own governments.

General Notes:

General Note:

n addition to promoting norms, TANs can also affect behavior and outcomes by providing information to states both before a final agreement is reached, as endorsers, and afterward, as monitors. In this way, TANs provide important support for international cooperation that goes beyond their role as norms entrepreneurs.

international agreements can be quite complex and voters don't know everything about them. TANs track these negotiations. Voters can make informed choices by taking cues from groups that: (2)

share their preferences or have some external incentive (such as penalties for lying) to truthfully reveal what they know, possess real knowledge about the agreement.

GENERAL NOTE..

GENERAL NOTE

in considering whether to support a proposed environmental treaty, a legislator need not study the text closely but can observe whether representatives of a trustworthy TAN have endorsed the agreement and decide how to vote accordingly. This provides an inexpensive shortcut that allows legislators or voters to make decisions identical to those they would make if they were completely informed.

having enacted a law, reached an agreement or recognized a norm, what are the three ways in which states acquire information about compliance?

they can rely on the self-reports of others (weak mechanism because states have incentive to cheat), states can monitor one another's behavior directly (this is expensive but common), states can monitor indirectly by listening to the testimony of trustworthy third parties (here, TANs can be useful in identifying and calling attention to violations of international agreements).

General Notes: Conclusion

General Notes Conclusion

On one side, traditionalists argue that states remain the dominant actors in world politics. That international law only binds states to the extent they want to be bound. In turn, transnational networks exist only because states that might otherwise regulate, control, and limit their interactions permit them to flourish. From this perspective, international law is a soft constraint

On the other side, globalists argue that international law and transnational networks are emerging as effective forms of global governance. In this view, political authority previously exercised by states is migrating to new supranational authorities, which can regulate states through international law, and to TANs, which are gradually assuming some responsibilities formerly fulfilled by states. Here law is respected because of the large gains from cooperation it facilitates.