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Moravcsik 1997 is a lengthy discussion of what liberal theory is, and in it Moravcsik differentiates liberal theory from “neoliberal theory.” Putnam 1988 shows that both domestic politics and international politics affect policy outcomes. Doyle 1986 provides an article-length overview of liberal theory and its influence on foreign affairs.
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For an in-depth discussion of liberalism, accessible for the undergraduate, see Richardson 2001. 2006 is an excellent collection of excerpts from major liberal works, though it is not limited to liberal theory. Snyder 2004 provides the most basic overview of liberal theory and contrasts it with realism and constructivism. This section contains overviews of liberal IR theory as a whole, as well as particularly important aspects of liberal IR theory. Therefore, the English school is dealt with in the “ International Relations Theory” article, and more extensively in the “ International Society” article. It could be argued that the “English school” belongs here, but the placement of the English school in solely a realist, liberal, or constructivist framework could be considered quite controversial, as its locus within IR theory is contested. Thus, American and English sources dominate this article.
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Liberal IR theory is a particularly Western-focused theory that deals with the advantages, limitations, and exportability of typically Western forms of government. Particular international institutions are also important in the development of liberal IR theory, but they are not explicitly dealt with in this article. International Law is also important in liberal IR theory as it is seen as forming a major constraint on state behavior.
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The key concepts found in liberal theory are absolute gains, international institutions, free trade, and democracy. Earlier generations of scholars refer to liberalism as “idealism.” More recent scholarship uses “idealism” to refer to “utopianism” or even “constructivism.” However, all postwar liberal theories share a few basic concepts that allow them to be called “liberal”: (1) states are the primary actors in the international system, but they are not unitary-domestic politics matters (2) there are factors beyond capabilities that constrain state behavior and (3) states’ interests are multiple and changing. For the purposes of a broad overview of the theory, only the predominant strains of liberal IR theory are included. There are other forms of liberal IR theory that are not explicitly dealt with in this article, such as functionalism and neofunctionalism, for example. Democratic Peace Theory argues that democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with each other, and thus an executive accountable to the people or the parliament is important to maintain peace (Kant’s call for all states to have “republican constitutions”). Commercial Liberalism emphasizes the importance of economic interdependence and free trade (Kant’s “universal hospitality”) in maintaining peace. Neoliberal Institutionalism (also called “neoliberalism” or “institutional liberalism”) emphasizes the importance of international institutions (Kant’s “federation of free states”) in maintaining peace. In that essay Kant provided three “definitive conditions” for perpetual peace, each of which became a dominant strain of post–World War II liberal IR theory. The roots of modern liberal international relations theory can be traced back farther than utopianism to Immanuel Kant’s essay “To Perpetual Peace” (1795) (and arguably farther see Kant 2003, cited under Immanuel Kant). The utopians believed that war could be eliminated either by perfecting man or by perfecting government. Liberal international relations (IR) theory is related to, but distinct from, the Utopianism of the interwar period.