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Cited by 8,292International Relations and Foreign PolicyPolitical Science Research and EducationPolicy Transfer and Learning

International Norm Dynamics and Political Change

Finnemore, Martha, Sikkink, Kathryn·1998·International Organization
DOI 10.1162/002081898550789
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Abstract

Norms have never been absent from the study of international politics, but the sweeping “ideational turn” in the 1980s and 1990s brought them back as a central theoretical concern in the field. Much theorizing about norms has focused on how they create social structure, standards of appropriateness, and stability in international politics. Recent empirical research on norms, in contrast, has examined their role in creating political change, but change processes have been less well-theorized. We induce from this research a variety of theoretical arguments and testable hypotheses about the role of norms in political change. We argue that norms evolve in a three-stage “life cycle” of emergence, “norm cascades,” and internalization, and that each stage is governed by different motives, mechanisms, and behavioral logics. We also highlight the rational and strategic nature of many social construction processes and argue that theoretical progress will only be made by placing attention on the connections between norms and rationality rather than by opposing the two.

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  • Judgements about what constituted interest were predicated on a particular moral economy in which European norms about racial superiority and imperialism framed the standards of appropriate behaviour of the era and the fluid but always subordinate identities of the other.

    “They also illustrated how judgements about what constituted interest were predicated on a particular moral economy in which European norms about racial superiority and imperialism framed the standards of appropriate behaviour of the era (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998, 892) and the fluid but always subordinate identities of the other.”

    From Race, Sovereignty, and Free Trade: Arms Trade Regulation and Humanitarian Arms Control in the Age of Empire (2018) · cites this paper as Finnemore and Sikkink 1998, 892

  • Institutionalist scholarship is now open to more nuanced, subtle, and contingent formulations than those suggested by rigid standard approaches.

    “In sum, institutionalist scholarship is now open to more nuanced, subtle, and contingent formulations than those suggested by rigid standard approaches.”

    From The Genesis, Design and Effects of Regional Institutions: Lessons from East Asia and the Middle East (2008) · cites this paper as Finnemore and Sikkink (1998)

  • There are situations where a given norm seems evidently salient, as opposed to situations where competing norms reflect normative polarization.

    “Yet there are situations where a given norm seems evidently salient(Finnemore and Sikkink 1998), as opposed to situations where competing norms reflect normative polarization.”

    From The Genesis, Design and Effects of Regional Institutions: Lessons from East Asia and the Middle East (2008) · cites this paper as Finnemore and Sikkink 1998

  • Normative influences are highly contingent and contested.

    “Normative influences are highly contingent and contested(Finnemore and Sikkink 1998, 274).”

    From The Genesis, Design and Effects of Regional Institutions: Lessons from East Asia and the Middle East (2008) · cites this paper as Finnemore and Sikkink 1998, 274

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Authors
Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K.
ORCID
Venue
International Organization
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1998
Volume
52
Issue
4
Pages
887-917
ISSN
  • 0020-8183 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-5088
DOI
10.1162/002081898550789
OpenAlex
W2164304100
Cited by
8,292
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 403 · 2025: 438 · 2024: 445 · 2023: 493 · 2022: 522 · 2021: 517 · 2020: 789 · 2019: 528 · 2018: 404 · 2017: 314 · 2016: 324 · 2015: 364 · 2014: 334 · 2013: 319 · 2012: 277
FWCI
299.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 2650 d)
Locations
  • International Organization (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Relations and Foreign Policy
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policy Transfer and Learning
Keywords
international norms, norm dynamics, political transition, norm cascade, norm internalization, norm formation, social construction, rationality, norm life cycle

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