Norm Implementation: the Achilles’ Heel of Constructivist Theory?

Abstract

This article offers a review of the IR academic literature on international norms, exploring their functions and life cycle, as well as revealing that while the stages leading to their national adoption have been thoroughly studied, the implementation phase has mostly been neglected by scholars. It also considers the power international norms have to bring about change in different spheres and why states adopt them. The national implementation of international norms and the reasons why some norms reach compliance while others do not have been to a large extent overlooked. The reasons for this are multifold: while some scholars assume mature, or salient, norms automatically reach compliance or rely on the explanatory power of value conflicts, others point to the influence of groups of innovative experts or international pressure in ensuring norm implementation. Those describing the local adaptation of international norms offer the most convincing descriptions of how states attempt to implement international norms they have adopted. A gap persists, however, in the literature, with scholars focusing on the domestic reasons that norms may not be successfully implemented and neglecting the international ones. This article points out a gap in the influential constructivist literature on norms, emphasizing that if international norms adopted by national governments do not reach compliance, then the study of adoption and diffusion mechanisms loses its relevance.