POLI 244 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Immanuel Kant, Henry Kissinger, Watergate Scandal
6 Sep 2016
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Idealism portrayed the world according to how it should work, not how it actually works. Realists have described liberalism as an ideology, not a theory. Kant"s 1795 essay perpetual peace argued that if the whole world consisted of states with popular representation, there would be no aggressors. Societal ideas, interests, and institutions shape state preferences. Specifically, they shape the strategic calculations of governments. If realism is based on state capabilities (i. e. power), liberalism considers preferences to determine state behaviour. Moravcsik argues that liberalism is a general theory. It provides a limited number of microfoundational assumptions that links a broad range of previously unconnected theories and hypothesis. It shows us which independent variables cause a given dependent variable. Realism doesn"t explain changes in world politics. Why do former enemies often become allies and trading partners. Individuals and small groups promote their interests and place their demands on the state. This is a bottom-up view: people shape state not vice-versa.
