International Norms and Domestic Politics: Bridging the Rationalist—Constructivist Divide

Abstract

In recent years, students of regimes and norms have paid greater attention to domestic politics. Both liberals and constructivists are `unpacking' the state in ways that further our understanding of how international norms work their effects in the domestic arena. A crucial next step is for adherents of these two schools to engage in dialogue. This article contributes to such an enterprise by developing scope conditions that predict when norms will have the constraining or constitutive effects favored, respectively, by liberals and constructivists. I make a distinction between compliance with norms and the diffusion mechanisms empowering them domestically, explaining variance in the latter with an institutional argument that captures key dynamics — rationalist or social constructivist — portrayed in other prominent accounts. The argument is illustrated by considering the domestic impact of norms embedded in the European human rights regime.