Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:50:55.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Dynamics of International Law: The Interaction of Normative and Operating Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2003

Get access

Abstract

This article describes the basic components of the operating and normative systems as a conceptual framework for analyzing and understanding international law. There are many theoretical questions that follow from the framework that embodies a normative and operating system. We briefly outline one of those in this article, namely how the operating system changes. In doing so, we seek to address the puzzle of why operating system changes do not always respond to alterations in the normative sphere. A general theoretical argument focuses on four conditions. We argue that the operating system only responds to normative changes when response is “necessary” (stemming from incompatibility, ineffectiveness, or insufficiency) for giving the norm effect, and when the change is roughly coterminous with a dramatic change in the political environment (that is, “political shock”). We also argue, however, that opposition from leading states and domestic political factors might serve to block or limit such operating system change. These arguments are illustrated by reference to three areas of the operating system as they concern the norm against genocide.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, Kenneth W. 1999. International Relations Theory, International Law, and the Regime Governing Atrocities in Internal Conflicts. American Journal of International Law 93 (2):361–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abbott, Kenneth W., and Snidal, Duncan. 2000. Hard and Soft Law in International Governance. International Organization 54 (3):421–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alston, Lee. 2000. A Framework for Understanding the New Institutional Economics. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois, Champaign.Google Scholar
American Society of International Law. 1998. The Genocide Convention After Fifty Years: Contemporary Strategies for Combating a Crime Against Humanity. American Society of International Law Proceedings 92:119.Google Scholar
Arzt, Donna E., and Lukashuk, Igor I.. 1995. Participants in International Legal Relations. In Beyond Confrontation International Law for the Post–Cold War Era, edited by Damrosch, Lori Fisler, Danilenko, Gennady, and Mullerson, Rein, 6192. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, Michael. 1995. The United Nations and Global Security: The Norm Is Mightier Than the Sword. Ethics and International Affairs 9:3754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Beck, Robert. 1996. International Law and International Relations: The Prospects for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. In International Rules: Approaches from International Law and International Relations, edited by Beck, Robert J., Arend, Anthony Clark, and Lugt, Robert Vander, 333. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunee, Jutta, and Toope, Stephen. 2000. International Law and Constructivism: Elements of an International Theory of International Law. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 39 (1): 1974.Google Scholar
Burley, Anne-Marie, and Mattli, Walter. 1993. Europe Before the Court: A Political Theory of Legal Integration. International Organization 47 (1):4176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charney, Jonathan I. 1993. Universal International Law. American Journal of International Law 87:529–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chinkin, Christine M. 1989. The Challenge of Soft-Law: Development and Change in International Law. International and Comparative Law Quarterly 38 (4):850–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chopra, Jarat, and Weiss, Thomas. 1992. Sovereignty Is No Longer Sacrosanct: Codifying Humanitarian Intervention. Ethics and International Affairs 6:95117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1998. On Democracy. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Deehr, Manya. 1991. A Proposal for the International Monitoring of Potential Genocide Conditions. Wisconsin International Law Journal 9 (2):491514.Google Scholar
Diehl, Paul F., and Goertz, Gary. 2000. War and Peace in International Rivalry. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunoff, Jeffrey, and Trachtman, Joel. 1999. The Law and Economics of Humanitarian Law Violations in Internal Conflict. American Journal of International Law 93 (2):394409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Peter B., Jacobson, Harold K., and Putnam, Robert D., eds. 1993. Double-Edged Diplomacy: International Bargaining and Domestic Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferstman, Carla. 1997. Domestic Trials for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: The Example of Rwanda. African Journal of International and Comparative Law 9 (4):857–77.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha. 1996. National Interests in International Society. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franck, Thomas M. 1990. The Power of Legitimacy Among Nations. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goertz, Gary, and Diehl, Paul F.. 1992. Toward a Theory of International Norms: Some Conceptual and Measurement Issues. Journal of Conflict Resolution 36 (4):634–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, Judith, Kahler, Miles, Keohane, Robert O., and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 2000. Introduction: Legalization and World Politics. International Organization 54 (3):385–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, H. L. A. 1994. The Concept of Law. 2d ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hasenclever, Andreas, Mayer, Peter, and Rittberger, Volker 1997. Theories of International Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henkin, Louis, and Hargrove, John Lawrence, eds. 1994. Human Rights An Agenda for the Next Century, Washington, D.C.: American Society of International Law.Google Scholar
Higgins, Rosalyn. 1994. Problems and Process International Law and How We Use It Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Ikenberry, G. John, and Kupchan, Charles A.. 1990. Socialization and Hegemonic Power. International Organization 44 (3):283315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kader, David. 1991. Progress and Limitations in Basic Genocide Law. In Genocide A Critical Bibliographic Review. Vol. 2, edited by Charny, Israel, 141–5. London: Mansell.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1980. The Theory of Hegemonic Stability and Changes in International Economic Regimes, 1967–1977. In Change in the International System, edited by Holsti, Ole, Siverson, Randolph M., and George, Alexander L., 131–62. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kindleberger, Charles. 1973. The World in Depression, 1929–1939. London: Penguin Press.Google Scholar
Klotz, Audie. 1995. Norms in International Relations The Struggle Against Apartheid Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara, Lipson, Charles, and Snidal, Duncan. 2001a. The Rational Design of International Institutions. International Organization 55 (4):761–99.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara, Lipson, Charles, and Snidal, Duncan. 2001b. Rational Design: Looking Back to Move Forward. International Organization 55 (4): 1051–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1982. Structural Causes and Regime Consequences: Regimes as Intervening Variables. In International Regimes, edited by Krasner, Stephen D., 122. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Ku, Charlotte, and Diehl, Paul F.. 1998. International Law as Operating and Normative Systems: An Overview. In International Law Classic and Contemporary Reading, edited by Ku, Charlotte and Diehl, Paul F., 315. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Ku, Charlotte, and Borgen, Christopher. 2000. American Lawyers and International Competence, Dickinson Journal of International Law, 18 (3):493515.Google Scholar
LeBlanc, Lawrence J. 1991. The United States and the Genocide Convention. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Lippman, Matthew. 1998. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: Fifty Years Later. Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 15:415514.Google Scholar
Pahre, Robert. 1999. Leading Questions How Hegemony Affects the International Political Economy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratner, Stephen R., and Abrams, Jason S.. 1997. Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law. Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Ratner, Stephen R., and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 1999. Appraising the Methods of International Law: A Prospectus for Readers. American Journal of International Law 93 (2):291302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Georges, Scelle. 1932. Precis de droit des gens principes et systematique Paris: Librarie de Recueil Sirey.Google Scholar
Shelton, Dinah, ed. 2000. Commitment and Compliance The Role of Non-Binding Norms in the International Legal System Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Transnational Politics, International Relations Theory, and Human Rights. PS Political Science and Politics 31 (3):517–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, J. David, and Wallace, Michael. 1970. Inter-Governmental Organization and the Preservation of Peace, 1816–1965: Some Bivariate Relationships International Organization 24 (3):520–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2000. International Law and State Behavior: Commitment and Compliance in International Monetary Affairs. American Political Science Review 94 (4):819–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slaughter, Anne-Marie, Tulumello, Andrew S., and Wood, Stepan. 1998. International Law and International Relations Theory: A New Generation of Interdisciplinary Scholarship. American Journal of International Law 92 (3):367–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Schaack, Beth 1997. The Crime of Political Genocide: Repairing the Genocide Convention's Blind Spot. Yale Law Journal, 106 (7):2259–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weil, Prosper. 1983. Towards Relative Normativity in International Law. American Journal of International Law, 77 (3):413–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 2001. Driving with the Rearview Mirror: On the Rational Science of Institutional Design. International Organization 55 (4):1019–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar