The interaction of law and politics in norm implementation

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

We lack a compelling way to study what a state’s effort to implement a norm of international law tells us about its commitment to that norm. When gauging commitment, some scholars focus on how seriously states take legal obligations in their justifications of contested actions. Other scholars apply a higher bar, namely whether law causes compliance or behavioural change. While the focus on justificatory discourse risks seeing legal influence everywhere, the latter emphasis of causation risks setting the bar too high and overlooking other ways in which law can matter.

I argue that for a richer understanding of the interaction of law and politics, we need to explore the grey zone between empty words and purposive action. I propose that we can infer a state’s degree of commitment by looking at the consistency and publicity of words and actions and the state’s engagement with the international community. Depending on whether a state’s discourse and behavior exhibit low or strong levels of commitment, we can then identify weak normative influence, strong normative influence, behavioural or discursive norm avoidance. I illustrate these four different kinds of normative influence on norm implementation with case studies.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationContesting the world
Subtitle of host publicationnorm research in theory and practice
EditorsPhil Orchard, Antje Wiener
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Chapter10
Pages164-181
ISBN (Electronic)9781009479141, 9781009479134
ISBN (Print)9781009479165 , 9781009479172
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2024

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