POLI 244 Chapter : D Lake notes Unedited.txt

• School: McGill University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 244
• Professor: Fernando Nunez- Mietz

Document Summary

This article first reviews the rationales behind state-centric theories of international relations. The third section identifies three promising areas of research within state-centric theory: state structure, unit heterogeneity, and international hierarchy. state policy, international relations theory, state-centric theory, state structure, unit heterogeneity, international hierarchy. The state is central to the study of international relations and will remain so into the foreseeable future. State policy is the most common object of analysis. They choose whether and at what level to establish environmental standards. States enter international agreements, or not, and choose whether to abide by their provisions, or not. Even scholars who give prominence to domestic interests or nonstate actors are typically concerned with understanding or changing state practice. International relations as a discipline is chiefly concerned with what states do on the world stage and, in turn, how their actions affect other states. Correspondingly, states are a common unit of analysis in theories of international relations.