Transcript International Theory: The Second Debate Realism versus

Monday, May 10, 2010
International Theory: The Second
Great Debate
Realism versus Behavioralism
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Different Methodologies of IR – A Scientific
Epistemology – Case Study
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Recommended Reading:
Morton A.Kaplan: The New Great Debate. Traditionalism vs.
Science in International Relations – PDF supplied
Friedrich Kratochwil: History, Action, and Identity… PDF
supplied
Article on „Behaviorism“ in Stanford Encyclopedia… at
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/
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International Theory: The Second
Debate
Realism versus Behavioralism
Or, to be more precise:
Traditionalism versus Scientism
Or also:
the debate between
Understanding and Explanation
Basic Terms
Ontological: concerning itself with what exists
- a 17th century coinage for the respective
branch of philosophical metaphysics
Epistemological: concerning itself with the
theory of knowledge
origin of knowledge,
the role of experience in generating knowledge, the function of reason in generating
knowledge, the relationship between knowledge and certainty, and the criteria according to which we decide on the validity and
tenability of statements
During the first part of the seminar, we looked
at the ontology of I.R., at the respective world
views linked to particular Grand Theories.
Classic Example of different ontologies: the
First Great Debate betweeen Idealism and
Realism (or between a Hobbesian & a
Lockean/Kantian/Grotian view of IR)
* * *
The Second Great Debate between
Traditionalism and Scientism looks at the
epistemology of I.R. How can we be sure that
the statements we formulate are correct ??
The methodologicalepistemological/ontological field of I.R.theory
Billiard-Ball-Model of Int. Politics
REALISM
NEOREALISM
Traditionalism
Qualitative, historicalhermeneutical ,
common-sensual
Scientism
Quantitative
(deductively-) empirical,
nomological
IDEALISM
GLOBALISM
Cobweb-Model of Int. Politics
The Billard-Ball-Model of international politics
Pulling forces
Pushing forces
Cobweb model of international relations
Traditionalism vs. Scientism I
The Traditional Approach to theorizing derives
from philosophy, history, and law, and is
characterized above all by explicit reliance
upon the exercise of judgment and by the
assumption that if we confine ourselves to
strict standards of verification very little can
be said of international relations. General
propositions about this field must therefore
derive from a scientifically imperfect process
of perception and intuition; general
propositions cannot be accorded more than
tentative and inconclusive status adequate to
their doubtful & fuzzy origin
Traditionalism vs. Scientism II
The Behavioralist or Scientistic Approach shows a
concern with
• explanatory rather than normative theory
• recurring patterns rather than the single case
• operational concepts that have measurable empirical
referents rather than reified concepts
• conceptual frameworks rather than allencompassing world-explaining theories
• the techniques of precise data gathering,
measurement and presentation.
Literaturtipp
• Klaus Knorr/James N. Rosenau (eds.): Contending
Approaches to International Politics. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton UP 1969
• Martin Hollis/Steve Smith: Explaining and
Understanding in International Relations. Oxford:
Clarendon Press 1990
Traditionalism I
scientific/cognitive interest
Scientific advice to those who govern,
and political education of those who
are governed; evaluating comments,
norm-based opinions, and recommendations for action regarding
present political decisions on the basis
of respective scientific research results
Traditionalism II
Problem statement:
striving for an understanding of politics
on the basis of an insight into and of a
knowledge of historical-social developments and processes
Traditionalism III
specific view of the object of enquiry
a) Politics is a specific social form of action full of
sense and values – an art which can be learned on
the basis of historical examples. Historical and
social phenomena can be clearly distinguished from
natural phenomena; thus, they are not susceptible
to scientific explanations taking the form of if - then
statements
b) b) International Politics
competitive zero-sum-game for power and influence
in an anarchic world of states, characterized by the
security dilemma and the role of states as primary
(if not near-exclusive) international actors
Traditionalism IV
methods of analysis:
hermeneutic, ideographic, descriptive, or
normative approaches typical for the arts
and historical sciences
validity criteria of scientific statements:
Common Sense – the view that we know
most, if not all, of those things which
ordinary people think they know and that any
satisfactory epistemological theory must be
adequate to the fact that we know such
things
Value relationship: scientific statements are
characterized by explicit dependence on
values
Traditionalism V
Concept of Theory:
a)
Constitution of a general theory of political action
based on the regular appearance of phenomena
and forms of international politics over time,
formulating recommendations to political decisionmakers for action in comparable situations
b)
Formulation of ideal types based on historical
comparisons which help with the understanding
and classification of concrete historical and
political phenomena
The Birth of Realism: Morgenthau
• In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War,
Hans J. Morganthau was credited with having
systematised classical Realism. His Politics Among
Nations became the standard textbook, and
continued to be reprinted after his death.
• Morgenthau starts with the claim that he is
presenting a "theory of international politics". He
sees his theory bringing "order and meaning" to the
mass of facts. It both explains the observed
phenomena and is logically consistent, based on
fixed premises. Like Carr, he sees this Realism as a
contrast to liberal-idealism.
Morgenthau: Six principles
• Morgenthau’s theory is based on six principles he enumerates
in his first chapter. In summary, these principles were:
• International relations "…is governed by objective laws that
have their roots in human nature".
• The key consideration "…is the concept of interest defined in
terms of power’.
• "…Interest defined as power is an objective category which is
universally valid", although its exact meaning may change with
time and circumstance.
• While moral principles have a place, they cannot be defined
identically at every time and place, and apply differently to
individuals and the state.
• "The moral aspirations of a particular nation…" are not "moral
laws that govern the universe".
• Politics is an autonomous sphere that needs to be analysed as
an entity, without being subordinated to outside values.
What is Realism II
• Of the threads that make up the Realist school, the most
important ideas include:
• International relations are amenable of objective study. Events
can be described in terms of laws, in much the way that a
theory in the sciences might be described. These laws remain
true at all places and times.
• The state is the most important actor. At times the state may be
represented by the city-state, empire, kingdom or tribe. Implicit
in this is that supra-national structures, sub-national ones and
individuals are of lesser importance. Thus the United Nations,
Shell, the Papacy, political parties, etc, are all relatively
unimportant.
• The first corollary is that the international system is one of
anarchy, with no common sovereign.
• A second corollary is that the state is a unitary actor. The state
acts in a consistent way, without any sign of divided aims.
What is Realism III
• Further, state behaviour is rational - or can be best
approximated by rational decision-making. States
act as though they logically assess the costs and
benefits of each course open to them.
• States act to maximise either their security or power.
The distinction here often proves moot as the
optimum method to guarantee security is frequently
equated to maximising power.
• States often rely on force or the threat of force to
achieve their ends.
• The most important factor in determining what
happens in international relations is the distribution
of power.
• Ethical considerations are usually discounted.
Universal moral values are difficult to define, and
unachievable without both survival and power.
High Politics/Low Politics
Realistic Premiss
• International politics is a zero-sum game: one actor‘s
gains (power, status, ressources) are all or other
specific actors‘ losses
• Conflict rules the game, military force serves as a
latent or open means to decide the game in one or
more parties‘ favour
• International influence results from the actual use –
or the threatened use – of power, defined as actual
or potential military and/or economic capabilities of
action
Realism: ontological and analytical
problems
• Problematic premisses:
• a) Elevation of states to the status of rational, unitary
actors which follow, within the context of the anarchic international system. the aim of guaranteeing
their own survival by means of the game of power
politics
• b) The political calculus of states is solely governed
by the distribution of power within the system
• c) State action is primarily oriented towards the
acquisition, conservation, augmentation, and
demonstration of power; secondarily towards the
conservation of the Balance of Power
Realism: ontological and analytical
problems II
Hypostization of concepts
• International System
The international system regulates the behaviour of its units in
the same way the market regulates the behaviour of firms;
power politics based on self-help assumes the same function in
international politics as the maximization of profit in a market
economy
• State
If the unitary actor is dissolved - as e.g. in the bureaucratic
politics model - it splinters into an uneasy conglomerate of
competing/warring power factions and political and socioeconomic interests.
• This suspends
- the homogeneity of state actions
- the likeness and comparabi1ity of actors and of their
systemic behaviour
Literaturtipp
• Benjamin Frankel (ed.): Roots of Realism.
London: Frank Cass 1996
• Stefano Guzzini: Realism in International
Relations and International Political
Economy. The Continuing Story of a Death
Foretold. London: Routledge 1998
• Christoph Rohde: Hans J. Morgenthau und
der weltpolitische Realismus. Wiesbaden:
VS-Verlag 2004
Scientism
Scientism is a philosophical position that exalts the
methods of the natural sciences above all other
modes of human inquiry. Scientism embraces only
empiricism and reason to explain phenomena of any
dimension, whether physical, social, cultural, or
psychological.
Drawing from the general empiricism of The Enlightenment,
scientism is most closely associated with the positivism of
August Comte (1798-1857) who held an extreme view of
empiricism, insisting that true knowledge of the world arises only
from perceptual experience. Comte criticized ungrounded
speculations about phenomena that cannot be directly
encountered by proper observation, analysis and experiment.
Such a doctrinaire stance associated with science leads to an abuse
of reason that transforms a rational philosophy of science into an
irrational dogma. It is this ideological dimension that we
associate with the term scientism. Today the term is used with
pejorative intent to dismiss substantive arguments that appeal to
scientific authority in contexts where science might not apply.
Scientism (2)
• Epistemological scientism lays claim to an
exclusive approach to knowledge. Human
inquiry is reduced to matters of material
reality. We can know only those things that
are ascertained by experimentation through
application of the scientific method. And
since the method is emphasized with such
great importance, the scientistic tendency is
to privilege the expertise of a scientific elite
who can properly implement the method.
Behavioralism
• The so-called “behavioral revolution” took
hold in academic disciplines and grantmaking bodies during the 1940’s, placing
emphasis on individual level psychological
variables and quantitative methods.
• Cf. article on “Behaviorism” by George Graham,
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, under
• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism
The Behavioral Revolution
Goal: an interdisciplinary, methodologically
rigorous science of human behavior, with the
ability to predict as well as prescribe.
Announcing its commitment to behavioralism,
the Ford Foundation identified two main
convictions:
– All problems “from war to individual
adjustment” could be traced to individual
behavior and human relations.
– Methodologically rigorous research might
uncover “laws” of human behavior and thus
help to inform policy.
Behavioralism: Characteristics
One of the most "influential" definitions of
behavioralism has been David Easton's list of its
characteristics:
1) search for regularities, even with explanatory and
predictive value,
2) verification with testable propositions,
3) self-conscious examination for rigorous techniques,
4) quantification for precision when possible and
relevant,
5) keeping values and empirical explanations
analytically distinct,
6) systematization as an intertwining of theory and
research,
7) pure science preceding the application of
knowledge, and
8) integration of the social sciences
(Easton 1962: 7-8; Easton 1965: 7).
Stimulus-Response-Model
Stimulus-Response-Model (ReizReaktions-Modell)
• S
R
• Later, in somewhat less rigorous form,
• „Stimulus-Organism-Response-Model“
S
O
R
Literaturtipp
• David Easton: The New Revolution in
Political Science.. The American Political
Science Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, Dez.1969.,
1051-1061.
• Falter, Jürgen W.: Der "Positivismusstreit" in
der amerikanischen Politikwissenschaft,
Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag 1982
• Falter, J. W./Honolka, H./Ludz, U.: Politische
Theorie in den USA. Eine empirische Analyse
der Entwicklung von 1950 bis 1980. Opladen:
Westdeutscher Verlag 1990
Positivism I
• Axioms: correspondence theory of
truth, methodological unity of science,
value-free scientific knowledge
• Premisses: Division of Subject and
Object, Naturalism – deduction of all
phenomena from natural facts, Division
of statements of facts and statements
of values
Positivism II
• Consequences:
• Postulated existence of a „real“ world
(object) independent from the theory- loaded
grasp of the scientist (subject);
• identification of facts in an intersubjectively
valid observation language independent from
theories;
• methodological exclusion of idiosyncratic
characteristics and/or individual (subject)
identities assures objective knowledge of an
intersubjectively transferable character
Positivism III
• Postulate of like regularities in the natural as
well as the social world, independent of time,
place, and observer, enables the transfer of
analytic approaches and deductivenomological processes of theory formulation
from the field of the natural to the field of the
social sciences & to the analysis of
social/societal problems
• Knowledge generated on the basis of
positivist research approaches and
methodologies is limited to the objective (i.e.
empirical) world. Statements and decisions
on values are outside the sphere of
competence of science.
Positivism IV
• Further Consequences:
• Concept of Reason predicated on the purposeful
rationality/rationality of purpose of instrumental
action aiding the actor to technically master
her/his environment
• Rationalisation of societal (inter-)action by its
predication on planned/plannable means- endrelationships, technical (or engineering)
knowledge, depersonalisation of relationships of
power and dominance, and extension of control
over natural and social objects (“rationalisation of
the world we live in”)
Positivism V
• Theory regards itself as problem-solving theory,
which accepts the institutions and power/dominance
relationships of a pre-given reality as analytical and
reference frameworks, and strives for the
explanation of causal relationships between societal
phenomena; its aim is the elimination of
disturbances and/or their sources in order to insure
friction-less action/functioning of social actors
• International politics is regarded as the interaction of
exogeneously constituted actors under anarchy, the
behaviour of which is as a rule explained by
recourse to the characteristics or parameters of the
international system (top-down explanation)
Positivism VI
Positivist theory creation and testing
logical
deduction
hypotheses
empirical
observation
either
or
theory
correct
Prediction not fulfilled,
theory appears
inconsistent with
the facts
Prediction fulfilled,
theory appears
consistent with
the facts
predictions
theory amended
theory
discarded,
new theory
needed
Literaturtipp
• A.J.Ayer: Logical Positivism. New York: Free
Press 1959
• Rudolf Haller: Neopositivismus. Eine
Historische Einführung in die Philosophie
des Wiener Kreises. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1993
Neorealism - a New Life for Realism:
Kenneth Waltz
• Morgenthau’s work formed the basis for many other authors in
the Realist tradition. Yet it was not until 1979 that Kenneth N.
Waltz attempted to reformulate Realism in a new and distinctive
way. His aim was to cure the defects with earlier theories of
international relations, including classical realism, by applying
a more scientific approach. The approach he took in Theory of
International Politics became known as Neorealism.
• While classical Realists saw international politics in terms of
the characteristics of states and their interaction with each
other, Waltz believed that there was a level above this.
According to Waltz, "The idea that international politics can be
thought of as a system with a precisely defined structure is
Neorealism’s fundamental departure from traditional realism".
The conditions of the system as a whole influenced state
behaviour, not just state level factors.
Neorealism - a New Life for Realism:
Kenneth Waltz II
• By concentrating on the nature of the system-level
structure, Waltz avoided the need to make
assumptions about human nature, morality, power
and interest. Neorealists were thus able to see power
in a different way. For the classical Realists power
was both a means and an end, and rational state
behaviour was simply to accumulate a maximum of
power. Neorealists found a better guide to IR was
provided by assuming that the ultimate state interest
was in security, and while gathering power often
ensured that, in some cases it merely provoked an
arms race. Yet while power was no longer the prime
motivator, its distribution was the major factor
determining the nature of the structure.
Addendum: Inhaltlich-perspektivische Differenzen von
klassischem
Realismus und Neorealismus
Gemeinsame Prämisse: Verhalten von Staaten über Zeit und Raum zeigt
mehr Gemeinsamkeiten als Unterschiede
Realismus
Neorealismus
Dominanz des Akteurs
Dominanz des internationalen
Systems
Akteursverhalten bestimmt durch
anthropozentrische Grundannahme:
Machtstreben
Charakteristische Eigenschaften,
Situationsdefinitionen und
Zielsetzungen der Akteure eines
Systems bestimmen dessen
Verhaltensergebnisse
(„bottom-up-view“)
Akteursverhalten bestimmt durch
systemische Grundannahme: strukturelle
Anarchie
Struktur des Systems (Verteilung der
Macht unter den Akteuren) bestimmt
das Interaktionsverhalten der Akteure
und die Verhaltensergebnisse
( „top-down-view“)
Realismus
Primat des in Kategorien von
Macht definierten
Nationalinteresses
Erwerb, Vermehrung, Demonstration
von Macht als Zweck der
Aussenpolitik des Akteurs
Maximierung von Macht als
absoluter Gewinn im
Nullsummenspiel der Akteure
Sicherung der nationalen
Souveränität als Voraussetzung des
Überlebens des Akteurs in einer
feindlichen Umwelt
Neorealismus
Primat der Sicherheit
Selbsthilfe
Verteidigung der Akteursposition
im System relativ zu den
Positionen anderer Akteure
Herstellung und Sicherung des Gleichgewichts
im System als Voraussetzung des Überlebens
der Akteure unter Anarchie
Literaturtipp
• Kenneth N.Waltz: Theory of International
Politics. Reading/Mass.: Addison-Wesley
1979
• Carlo Masala: Kenneth N. Waltz. Einführung
in seine Theorie und Auseinandersetzung mit
seinen Kritikern. Baden-Baden: Nomos 2005
• Benjamin Frankel (ed.): Realism:
Restatement and Renewal. London: Frank
Cass 1996
… Thanx for today…