China's “Major Country Diplomacy”: Legitimation and Foreign Policy Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen N Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
State Action ◽  
Political Concept ◽  
Chinese Characteristics ◽  
Regional Order ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Legitimate State

AbstractThis paper probes China's official political concept of “Major Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics” to argue that the boundaries of legitimate state action have been dramatically expanded since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. Building on Patrick Jackson's transactional social constructivism, I place the causal mechanism in China's new assertiveness in seminal changes to how Chinese elites legitimize their country's role in global politics. Drawing upon elite speeches, Party documents, and Chinese-language scholarship between 2013 and 2019, I show how new legitimation strategies are used to justify China's effort to proactively reform international order, engage in ideological competition with the West, and assume greater responsibility for global affairs in accordance with its elevated power and status. The boundaries of action sanctioned by this new discourse are likely to persist in the short to medium term, with implications for regional order in Asia and beyond.

Women, Peace, and Security: Mapping the (Re)Production of a Policy Ecosystem

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kirby ◽  
Laura J Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
State Action ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Conventional Models

Abstract The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda is a global peace and security architecture conventionally understood as emerging from a suite of UN Security Council resolutions and accompanying member state action plans over the last twenty years. The agenda serves as a major international gender equality initiative in its own right and as a prominent example of the broadening of security practices in global politics. In this paper, we present the first truly systematic analysis of the agenda, drawing on a novel dataset of 213 WPS policy documents from across the UN system, national government initiatives, and regional and international organizations published between 2000 and 2018. We argue that the degree of variation in the WPS agenda is frequently underestimated in conventional models of norm diffusion and policy transfer, and instead propose an account of the agenda as a dynamic ecosystem shaped by reproduction and contestation. Our empirical mapping runs counter to established narratives about the development of the agenda, producing insights into the pace and location of the growth of WPS; the hierarchy of its key “pillars”; the emergence of new issues; the development of rival versions of the agenda; and the role of domestic institutions in shaping WPS policy. We find support for the claim that the WPS agenda is pluralizing in significant ways and provide illustrations of points of fracture within the agenda at large. Our argument has significant implications for the WPS research agenda and for scholarship on security norms and policy more broadly.

scholarly journals When the State Speaks, What Should It Say? The Dilemmas of Freedom of Expression and Democratic Persuasion

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1005-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey Brettschneider
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The State ◽  
Hate Groups ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
State Action ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
The One ◽  
Value Neutrality

Hate groups are often thought to reveal a paradox in liberal thinking. On the one hand, such groups challenge the very foundations of liberal thought, including core values of equality and freedom. On the other hand, these same values underlie the rights such as freedom of expression and association that protect hate groups. Thus a liberal democratic state that extends those protections to such groups in the name of value neutrality and freedom of expression may be thought to be undermining the values on which its legitimacy rests. In this paper, I suggest how this apparent paradox might be resolved. I argue that the state should protect the expression of illiberal beliefs, but that the state (along with its citizens) is also obligated to criticize publicly those beliefs. Distinguishing between two kinds of state action—coercive and expressive—I contend that such criticism should be pursued through the state's expressive capacities in its roles as speaker, educator, and spender. Here I extend the familiar idea that law, to be legitimate, must be widely publicized; I contend that a proper theory of the freedom of expression obligates the legitimate state to publicize the reasons that underlie rights, in particular reasons that appeal to the entitlement of each citizen subject to coercion to be treated as free and equal. My theory of freedom of expression is thus “expressive” in two senses: it protects the entitlement of citizens to express any political viewpoint, and it emphasizes a role for the state in explaining these free-speech protections and persuading its citizens of the value of the entitlements that underlie them.

State civil disobedience: A republican perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Michelsen
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
State Action ◽  
The Status ◽  
Right To Participation ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Trade Laws

The article deals with the question of whether or under which circumstances it is reasonable to interpret some forms of illegal state action as civil disobedience and whether republican political theory can make a difference to the justification of those actions. It is argued that the theory of freedom as non-domination and the interpretation of the right to participation as the “right of rights” in a legitimate state provide a better justificatory scheme for cases in which developing or emerging countries break international trade laws for the purpose of protecting constitutional rights than Rawls’ theory of civil disobedience, because it takes the problem of power asymmetries in international relations and the status of social rights more seriously. However, these republican standards do not offer different practical solutions for a specific type of state disobedience, humanitarian intervention, because transferring the standards of non-domination and the fundamental right to participation to international relations would lead to a “maximalist” interpretation of human rights, which would undermine the function of such interventions as an instrument of last resort against oppressive governments.

scholarly journals Regional order in the South Pacific and Fiji’s challenge to it

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
John Gradwell
Keyword(s):  
South Pacific ◽  
International Order ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Regional Order ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
Shed Light

<p>Drawing from a body of leading literature on international and regional order, this thesis applies these concepts to the context of the South Pacific. Examining recent developments in the region through a framework of international order, and paying specific consideration to the regional operation of legitimacy, institutions and power dynamics, it seeks to shed light on the forces underpinning Fiji’s pursuit of regionalism through alternative institutional frameworks. In this, it concludes that Suva’s actions over the past decades constitute a challenge to the prevailing, Australian-New Zealand led regional order in the South Pacific, one that has occurred largely from a failure of Wellington and Canberra’s policymakers to appreciate first, changing power dynamics brought about by the entry of the “new players” into the region and second, divergent views throughout the region on what constitutes legitimate state conduct. Drawing these conclusions into the broader context of global international order, this thesis unpacks the distinct meanings and motivations underpinning these developments, and in doing so explores how regional developments have mirrored global trends in the American led liberal order, offering lessons for policymakers both within the region and beyond.</p>

scholarly journals TRANSFORMATION OF THE SYSTEM OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN POST COVID-19 PERIOD

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Khojayan
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
World Order ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Global World ◽  
The Impact

The article analyses possible scenarios of global world order followed by the outbreak of COVID-19. It assesses to what extend the pandemic will impact the process of transformation of the system of international relations and discusses possible scenario of the global politics for post-COVID period. The article suggests that the expected outcome of the pandemic will be bi-polar world order, which will much differ from the system of the International Relations of Cold War period. The impact of COVID-19 on ongoing processes will be tangible. In the meanwhile, bearing in mind emerging neorealistic tendencies, enhancing role of states as pivotal actors of international system and current level of global inter-dependence, the international relations cannot return to the epoch where political realism had dominant position in global affairs. The article concludes that the pandemic will not drastically change the international order, but it will decently accelerate international processes, started years ago.

Arguing and Deliberation in International Relations

2018 ◽  
pp. 517-534
Author(s):  
Thomas Risse
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Theory Of Communicative Action ◽  
Internationale Beziehungen ◽  
Global Affairs

It was not until the late 1980s when social constructivism gradually entered the stage that International Relations (IR) scholars started paying attention to communicative action. Today, this picture has changed dramatically and there is no IR textbook which does not cover “discourse” or “discourse theory.” This chapter concentrates on deliberation, arguing, and communicative action in a Habermasian sense. I start with a controversy in the German IR journal Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, which concentrated on the extent to which Habermas’s theory of communicative action could be made fruitful for the study of international relations, namely diplomacy and negotiations. I then discuss the state of the art with regard to the empirical evaluation of Habermasian assumptions. Scholarship not only demonstrated that arguing matters in global affairs, but discerned the (institutional) scope conditions under which deliberation affects negotiation outcomes. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on the normative implications for global governance.

The New Regional Order and Transnational Civil Society in Southeast Asia: Focusing on Alternative Regionalism from below in the Process of Building the ASEAN Community

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seiichi Igarashi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Asian Regionalism ◽  
Regional Order ◽  
Transnational Civil Society ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Neoliberal Institutionalism

Since the end of the Cold War and in the context of the recent spread of economic globalization, Southeast Asian regionalism has steadily deepened and expanded, centering on ASEAN. The concept of the ASEAN Community is one of the most important aspects of this regionalism, and there have been hopes that this will be realized by 2015. The mainstream theories such as neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, and social constructivism have offered competing explanations of this transformation. However, recently, a new phenomenon that cannot be fully explained by these state-centric theories has arisen—the movement toward constructing a regional order from below by transnational civil society actors. By adopting the analytical viewpoint of the New Regionalism Approach, which has maintained a keen interest in civil society in the process of regionalization, this study attempts to empirically analyze still largely unexplored activities undertaken by transnational civil society actors, in particular who has promoted the “alternative regionalism” against the “neoliberal regionalism” in the course of the formation of the ASEAN Community. It also seeks to examine the embryonic change toward the establishment of a new regional order in Southeast Asia from the bottom-up perspective. In conclusion, the article proves that by engaging with transnational civil society actors, ASEAN is gradually moving from an “elite club” to a “people-centered” organization. However, given the predominance of neoliberal discourse, “alternative regionalism” has not had enough influence for this to be fully realized. Nevertheless, the growing number of transnational civil society actors is resulting in improved potential to transform the persistent sovereign state system.

scholarly journals The Deliberative City

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoi Kong
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Law ◽  
State Action ◽  
Normative Foundation ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
Special Force ◽  
Rule Making

In this paper, I will argue that general administrative law concerns about thelegitimacy and effectiveness of rule-making have special force in the municipalzoning by-law context. In particular, I will argue that a particular, civicrepublican conception of legitimate state action offers the best justification formunicipal regulation and provides the best normative foundation fordevelopments in municipal consultation processes. In Part II, I will argue thatthe consultative processes in Quebec’s zoning laws reflect a commitment to civicrepublican ideals, but that because of specific features of municipal regulation,these ideals are incompletely realized. In Part III, I will argue that aparticular municipal institution – the ward council – enables the zoningprocess to better approximate civic republican ideals. I conclude this paper byarguing that ward councils not only strengthen the normative justifications formunicipal regulation, they contribute to its effectiveness.Dans cet article, je vais soutenir que les préoccupations du droit administratifgénéral au sujet de la légitimité et l’efficacité de l’élaboration de règles ont uneimportance particulière dans le contexte de la réglementation municipale sur lezonage. En particulier, je vais soutenir qu’une certaine conception civiquerépublicaine de l’action légitime de l’état offre la meilleure justification de laréglementation municipale et le meilleur fondement normatif pour lesdéveloppements des processus de consultation municipaux. Dans la partie II, jevais soutenir que les processus de consultation des lois sur le zonage du Québecreflètent un engagement envers les idéaux civiques républicains mais qu’à causede certains aspects précis de la réglementation municipale, ces idéaux ne sontpas complètement atteints. Dans la partie III, je vais soutenir qu’uneinstitution municipale particulière – le conseil de quartier – fait que leprocessus de zonage se rapproche mieux des idéaux civiques républicains. Jetermine l’article en soutenant que les conseils de quartier non seulementrenforcent les justifications normatives de la réglementation municipale, ilscontribuent à son efficacité.

The “Wisdom of the State”: Adam Smith on China and Tartary

2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
RYAN PATRICK HANLEY
Keyword(s):  
Adam Smith ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
State Action ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
Civic Institutions ◽  
Insight Into

Adam Smith's engagement with China and Tartary is a central yet underappreciated element of his economic and political thought. This article reconstructs this engagement and demonstrates its broader significance, arguing that it focuses on three themes: the economic institutions that promote domestic growth in a manner that alleviates the material conditions of the poorest, the social and political conditions that minimize the dependence of the poor on the wealthy, and the ethical values and civic institutions that guarantee the existential survival of the state. This treatment is significant for three reasons: It offers useful insight into the contested issue of Smith's conception of legitimate state action; it clarifies Smith's vision of a commercial order that promotes human dignity; and it reveals the depth of his participation in a specific contextual debate.

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