Deck 12: Social Constructivism

Question 1

While mainstream IR assumes that states have enduring interests such as power and wealth and focuses on the material forces that constrain their ability to further those interests, constructivism argues that social forces such as ideas, knowledge, norms, and rules also influence states' identities and interests and the very organization of world politics.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

'Constitutive' rules are those that regulate already existing activities.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Social facts exist because of human agreement.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Constructivism is best compared with 'rational choice', as opposed to theories of world politics like neorealism or neoliberalism.

Question 5

The word 'refugee' is a product of the eighteenth century.

Question 6

What term is not generally associated with constructivist thought?

A) Idealism.
B) Individualism.
C) Holism.
D) Social theory.

Question 7

According to constructivism, the convergence on similar models, the internationalization of norms, and the possible emergence of an international community reflect the transformation toward a world without power and hierarchy.

Question 8

Why do states comply with international human rights laws?

A) They fear that international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) might 'name and shame' them.
B) They face pressure from domestic groups that cite human rights laws.
C) They face foreign policy pressure from those states that identify with human rights.
D) All of the given answers are correct.

Question 9

How do professional associations and expert communities diffuse organizational models?

A) Associations use material leverage, such as access to grant money, to coerce recipient states to adopt their approaches.
B) Most associations have established techniques, codes of conduct, and methodologies for determining how to confront challenges in their areas of expertise, and they learn them through informal interactions and in formal settings such as universities.
C) Associations emphasize the superiority of the 'Western' model.
D) None of the given answers are correct.

Question 10

Constructivists argue that knowledge shapes how actors interpret and construct their…

A) Worlds and realities.
B) Norms and ideas.
C) Cost-benefit analyses.
D) Normative structures.

Question 11

Who said 'we are cultural beings with the capacity and the will to take a deliberate attitude towards the world and to lend it significance'?

A) Max Weber
B) John Ruggie
C) Kenneth Walt
D) Alexander Wendt

Question 12

According to this chapter, all of the following are true of norms except…

A) A norm is 'a standard of appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity' (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998).
B) Norms not only regulate what states do, but also can be connected to their identities and thus express how they define themselves and their interests.
C) Norms are always based in calculations of material interests.
D) Norms constrain behaviour because actors are worried about costs and because of a sense of self.

Question 13

Institutional isomorphism…

A) Observes that organizations that share the same environment will, over time, come to resemble each other.
B) Claims that if once there was a diversity of models within a population, over time that diversity yields conformity and convergence around a single model.
C) Asserts that there used to be various ways to organize state structures, economic activity, and free trade
Agreements, but now that the world is organized around the nation-state, many states favour democratic forms of governance and market economies, and most international organizations are multilateral.
D) All of the given answers are correct.

Question 14

The logic of consequences attributes action to the anticipated costs and benefits, while the logic of appropriateness highlights how actors are rule-following, worrying about whether their actions are legitimate.