Meeting # 4: Alternative & constructivist theories.

Questions for Discussion

  1. What is the argument of Chayes and Chayes about the influence and operation of international institutions? Exactly how is it distinct from the institutionalist views we have already read?
  2. Evaluate the Chayes’ arguments. What do you think of their claim about using compliance rates to evaluate an institution’s success or role? Go back and consider Downs, Rocke, and Barsoom’s critique of the "managerial school."
  3. Barnett and Finnemore constitute a more serious departure from the rationalist approaches we have considered so far. According to them, how do institutions influence states’ behavior? How do formal organizations make decisions? On what points would they disagree with the institutionalist perspective? The realist perspective?
  4. Critique Barnett and Finnemore. What does Moravcsik say about theories of this stripe? Which view does the evidence support?