PLT2050

World politics and international law

Chris Reus-Smit

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton

Objectives This subject aims to give students an understanding of the relationship between legal norms and political action, a knowledge of the historical connection between the development of the modern society states and the evolution of contractual international law, a grasp of the role played by international law in aspects of contemporary politics, including human rights, environmental protection, the conduct of war, and economic management, and a capacity to critically evaluate traditional and revisionist arguments about the impact of international law on the nature of sovereign states and on international relations.

Synopsis Since the end of the Second World War, international law has come to exert an important influence on international politics. It has also shaped domestic politics,with national courts increasingly upholding its validity, and non-state actors using international legal norms and institutions to challenge and change state practices. These developments have profound implications not only for how we understand international politics, but also for the way we view state sovereignty, democracy, political action and `the rule of law'. This subject introduces students to the complex and evolving relationship between world politics, broadly defined, and international law. After exploring competing conceptions of law, and the relationship between legal norms and political action, the subject examines the connection between the development of modern international society and the rise of contractual international law, focussing on changing ideas of legitimate statehood and the relationship between international law and multilateralism. It then considers the role of non-state actors in the development and mobilisation of international legal norms, exploring how this has affected international politics in the areas of human rights, environmental protection, the conduct of war, and economic management. The subject concludes by reflecting on the impact of international law on the global political order, and its implications for the theory and practice of sovereignty.

Assessment Tutorial participation: 10%
* Assignment (1000 words): 15%
* Essay (2000 words): 35%
* Examination (3 hours): 40%

Recommended texts

Friedrich Kratochwil Rules, norms and decisions: On the conditions of practical and legal reasoning in international relations and deomestic affairs CUP, 1989
John Gerard Ruggie (ed.) Multilateralism matters: The theory and praxis of an institutional form Columbia U P, 1993
Haskell Fain Normative politics and the community of nations Temple U P, 1987
Terry Nardin Law, morality and relations of states Princeton U P, 1983