| ID | 077676 |
| Title Proper | Liberal-Idealism |
| Other Title Information | a constructivist critique |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Steele, Brent J |
| Publication | 2007. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Recently, scholars have connected US constructivism to liberal-idealism. International relations theorists have branded US constructivists as "liberal theorists" for three notable reasons: (1) realists apply an "idealist" tag on constructivism so that it can efficiently be dismissed as a form of theoretical naïvete, (2) rational choice empiricists are motivated with amending constructivist assumptions to make them viable for quantitative analysis; and (3) certain constructivist scholars have attempted to build bridges with rationalist scholarship, especially on epistemological terms, and this "bridge-building" has opened a door for a liberal-constructivist synergy. This essay demonstrates how constructivism can, and must, be distinguished from liberalism. It uses the recent Iraq War to illustrate three constructivist critiques of an important liberal theory: democratic peace "theory." The three critiques are (1) ontological-liberal democratic peace researchers' focus on events leads to an incomplete understanding of processes, structures, and agency; (2) epistemological-unlike constructivism, liberal democratic peace research fails to acknowledge the contamination of subject and object or that state agents use theory to inform their actions; thus the traditionally positivist emphasis on outcomes instead of processes makes for faulty conclusions; and (3) normative-liberalism's radical celebration of the individual desocializes states thereby inhibiting, in structurationist terms, the reflexive monitoring of actions. The essay concludes with some general theoretical statements about democratic peace's future as a paradigm for research. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Studies Review Vol. 9, No.1; Spring 23-52 |
| Journal Source | International Studies Review Vol: 9 No 1 |
| Key Words | International Relations Theory ; Realism ; Liberalism |