The International Wanderings of a Liberal Idea, or Why Liberals Can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Balance of Power
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6324801 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deborah Boucoyannis (Harvard University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 04 |
| Publication date | 2007-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1537592707072180 |
| OpenAlex | W2003795802 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 138 |
Scholars in international relations have failed to note a paradox about the balance of power: the concept of checks and balances and equilibria underlie classical Liberal constitutional and economic theory. Interest balancing interest lies at the core of the Liberal solution to the problem of anarchy, power, and human nature, whether in politics, economics, or the international sphere. Liberal scholars have adopted instead a rationalist utilitarian or a normative democratic approach. At the same time, Realists in international relations predict a balance, which realist scholars in domestic politics, like Schattschneider, have effectively questioned. This intellectual confusion denies Liberal theory a robust view of international politics, not least because the balancing principle is erroneously rejected as conservative. The confusion also undermines the coherence of Realist theory, which has hitherto tried to accommodate opposing predictions (balance of power and power concentrations) under one paradigm. I offer an explanation of how this conflation of theories arose. Conflating Liberalism with idealism leaves Realism as the only prudent alternative in international politics. The relation between the two theories is not zero-sum: both capture important aspects of international dynamics, and each can ignore the other only at serious cost.Deborah Boucoyannis is Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University ([email protected]). For comments and suggestions over the time the article has been in gestation, the author thanks Bear Braumoeller, Tim Crawford, Daniel Drezner, Nisha Fazal, David Grewal, Arman Grigorian, Mark Haas, Russ Hamilton, Michael Heaney, Jacques Hymans, Seth Jones, Andreas Kalyvas, Jacob Levy, Jack Levy, John Mearsheimer, Jennifer Mitzen, Kevin Narizny, Jacob Schiff, Jack Snyder, Kenneth Waltz, Alex Wendt, Bill Wohlforth, and the participants at the Political Theory and PISP workshops at the University of Chicago. Special thanks are due to Monica Toft, John Ikenberry, and Jennifer Hochschild for their support of the article; it was mostly written with the generous support of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University
Balance (ability · Classical liberalism · Economics · Epistemology · Idealism · International relations · International relations theory · Law and economics · Liberalism · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics · Realism · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance
Realist Constructivism
Theodicy and international political economy
The Dynamics of Global Power Politics
The balance of power and the power struggles of the polis
The Imperial Paradox in Liberal International Theory
Beyond anarchy
Realism, Prediction, and Foreign Policy
Philanthrocapitalism and the Separation of Powers
Drawing Out the Leviathan
The Comedy of Errors? A Reply to Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Securitization and the liberalism of fear
Republican security theory revisited
On Systemic Paradigms and Domestic Politics
How Realism Waltzed Off
The Corinthian Thesis
Why Europe Avoided Hegemony
The Balance of Power in the Balance
Paradigmatic Faults in International-Relations Theory
The “negative” view of human nature
In the beginning
Gaining access
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
Politics and markets
The Balance of Power and International Order
Emergent Actors in World Politics
Capitalism and Freedom
Existence of an Equilibrium for a Competitive Economy
The Impact of the International Economy on National Policies
The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics
A plea for mechanisms
The Great Transformation
American Politics
An evolutionary theory of economic change
The rise of the trading state
Liberal Tradition in America
Ways of war and peace
Economic Theory in Retrospect
After Hegemony
Social Choice and Individual Values
Wealth and Virtue
Right versus left retroperitoneoscopic living-donor nephrectomy
The Concept of Equilibrium in American Social Thought
Constitutionalism and Democracy
War and Change in World Politics
The halse Promise of International Institutions
The Liberalism of Fear
Of the first principles of government
Rational Choice and Social Theory
Two Concepts of Liberalism
The Origins of Alliances
The Balance of Power
The Transformation Of European Politics 1763 –1848
International liberalism reconsidered
Preface
Preface
Riches and poverty
Politics and Vision
Nonsense upon Stilts (Routledge Revivals)
American Capitalism
The Logic of Collective Action
Adam Smith's Politics
Philosophy and Government 1572-1651
The Garnaut Report
Power test
What's the matter with realism
On the idealist origins of the realist theory of international relations
Waltz, Kant and systemic approaches to international relations
Is Anybody Still a Realist
The Promise of Institutionalist Theory
The False Promise of International Institutions
Historical Reality vs. Neo-Realist Theory
The Stability of a Unipolar World
Realism, Neoliberalism, and Cooperation
Bandwagoning for Profit
Political Realism and Political Idealism
American Politics
The Anarchical Society
The Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal
The Development of Utility Theory. I
Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory
The Virtues of Liberalism
Balance of Power
The Theory of Price
The Nature of the Firm
The Dynamics of General Equilibrium
The Pure Theory of Taxation
The Economics of Welfare
The Balance of Power in International Law
Realist Environment, Liberal Process, and Domestic-Level Variables
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
State Power and the Structure of International Trade
Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy
The Balance of Power
Social Choice and System Structure in World Politics
The Theory of Games and the Balance of Power
The Balance of Power
Realism, Neorealism, and American Liberalism
The Rhetoric of the Market
What Accent the Heavenly Chorus? Political Equality and the American Pressure System
Liberal Political Theory and Working-class Radicalism in Nineteenth-Century England
Power and Political Institutions
Signaling Versus the Balance of Power and Interests
Rereading Early Twentieth-Century IR Theory
Three Modes of Economism
Realism, Change, and International Political Theory
Lessons from the Past
Hobbes and international relations
What's at stake in the agent-structure debate
What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge
Realism in the Study of World Politics
Bargaining, Enforcement, and International Cooperation
Anarchy in international relations theory
Rationalist explanations for war
International Organization and the Study of World Politics
Rationalizing Politics
Theories and Empirical Studies of International Institutions
The agent-structure problem in international relations theory
Taking Preferences Seriously
Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and Theories of International Relations
Theory and Evidence for Counteractive Lobbying
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,11 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2025 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |