Session 18 – Norms!

Norms refer to the standard behavior which are accepted as appropriate and good by the majority of the people. Institutions, too, in a way explain the same concept as they are a collection of rules and practices which are applied as they are thought of as appropriate for a given group of actors in specific situations.

The reading “International Norm Dynamics and political Change” by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink explore the role of norms in the field of International Relations.

The authors believe that norms have been cardinal in the study of Political Science since the time of Plato and Aristotle. However in the 1970s and 1980s, this began to change as the political scientists began to rely more on scientific methods as they were more tangible and quantifiable. It was at this time too, that microeconomics was greatly used in the study of International Relations. However after this period, we see that the trend has reversed with the normative issues becoming important.

During the 1970s and 1980s, when the study of norms fell out of favor and more emphasis was placed on scientific theories, one advantage that this had was that methods of research design and theoretical clarity were strengthened. This had the impact that now when the normative issues are taken into consideration to describe something, causal relationships are clearly defined and substantiated in terms of empirical research and past events.

While the normative concerns have made a comeback into the field of International Relations, they have changed for the better and certainly give an alternative perspective on things and events which is not explored in other theories, for example, Realism and Liberalism.