The Moral Purpose of the State

by Reus-Smit, Christian

• ISBN13: 9780691027357
• ISBN10: 0691027358
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-19
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

This book seeks to explain why different systems of sovereign states have built different types of fundamental institutions to govern interstate relations. Why, for example, did the ancient Greeks operate a successful system of third-party arbitration, while international society today rests on a combination of international law and multilateral diplomacy? Why did the city-states of Renaissance Italy develop a system of oratorical diplomacy, while the states of absolutist Europe relied on naturalist international law and "old diplomacy"? Conventional explanations of basic institutional practices have difficulty accounting for such variation. Christian Reus-Smit addresses this problem by presenting an alternative, "constructivist" theory of international institutional development, one that emphasizes the relationship between the social identity of the state and the nature and origin of basic institutional practices. Reus-Smit argues that international societies are shaped by deep constitutional structures that are based on prevailing beliefs about the moral purpose of the state, the organizing principle of sovereignty, and the norm of procedural justice. These structures inform the imaginations of institutional architects as they develop and adjust institutional arrangements between states. As he shows with detailed reference to ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, absolutist Europe, and the modern world, different cultural and historical contexts lead to profoundly different constitutional structures and institutional practices. The first major study of its kind, this book is a significant addition to our theoretical and empirical understanding of international relations, past and present.

Table of Contents

List of Table and Figures	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	3	(9)
The Enigma of Fundamental Institutions	12	(14)
Fundamental Institutions Defined	12	(3)
Existing Accounts of Fundamental Institutions	15	(9)
Summary	24	(2)
The Constitutional Structure of International Society	26	(14)
Communicative Action and Institutional Construction	27	(2)
Sovereignty, State Identity, and Political Action	29	(1)
Constitutional Structures	30	(3)
Fundamental Institutional Production and Reproduction	33	(3)
The Purposive Foundations of International Society	36	(3)
Summary	39	(1)
Ancient Greece	40	(23)
Ancient Greece as a State of War	41	(3)
Extraterritorial Institutions in Ancient Greece	44	(1)
The Constitutional Structure of Ancient Greece	45	(4)
The Practice of Interstate Arbitration	49	(3)
Hegemonic Power, Rational Choice, Territorial Rights?	52	(2)
Rereading Thucydides	54	(7)
Conclusion	61	(2)
Renaissance Italy	63	(24)
The Italian City-States	65	(2)
Images of Renaissance Diplomacy	67	(3)
The Constitutional Structure of Renaissance Italy	70	(7)
The Practice of Oratorical Diplomacy	77	(7)
Conclusion	84	(3)
Absolutist Europe	87	(35)
Westphalia and the Genesis of Modern Institutions?	89	(3)
Absolutism, Political Authority, and State Identity	92	(2)
The Constitutional Structure of the Absolutist Society of States	94	(7)
The Fundamental Institutions of Absolutist International Society	101	(9)
Generative Grammar, Institutional Practices, and Territoriality	110	(10)
Conclusion	120	(2)
Modern International Society	122	(33)
From Holism to Individualism	123	(4)
The Constitutional Structure of Modern International Society	127	(4)
The Fundamental Institutions of Modern International Society	131	(21)
Conclusion	152	(3)
Conclusion	155	(16)
The Nature of Sovereignty	157	(2)
The Ontology of Institutional Rationality	159	(3)
The Dimensions of International Systems Change	162	(3)
The Richness of Holistic Constructivism	165	(3)
The Contribution to Critical International Theory	168	(2)
A Final Word on Aristotle	170	(1)
Bibliography	171	(22)
Index	193