No Empirical Studies Of The Effectiveness Of Governmental And International Institutions

The assumption that our world is anarchical is the mile-stone of Western IR theory. Major mainstream IR theories evolve on this logical point. They are, however, very different on whether the anarchy could be lessened and how to lessen it.The international institutions have existed very long, and there are many kinds of international institutions, such as war, balance of power, international law and international organizations. Almost all scholars admit international institutions matter, but they differ on the degrees of efficacy. Realism focuses on the subsidiary side of institutions, Liberalism stresses its efficacy, and Constructivism emphasizes its legitimacy. Then, what is the source of the efficacy?I take in my research here the efficacy of international institutions as a dependent variable, and try to find out the independent variable which produces the efficacy. I analyze three cases: the Concert of Europe, the League of Nations and the United Nations. My research focus on the relations between the distribution of powers , collective identity and the efficacy of international institutions.My conclusion is that the distribution of power among great powers, i.e. the structure of the international system, is not the inevitable casual factor as long as the efficacy of international institutions is concerned. However, if there is an appropriate fit between the international structure and the international processes, they can have a strong impact on the institutional efficacy. When the structure and the process are in good coordination, the collective identity has positive casual relations with the efficacy. An essential part of international institutions is international norms which help construct the common identities among big powers; meanwhile national norms help construct the norms at the international level.Since international institutions and international norms reflected by such institutions can reduce the negative effect of international anarchy, it is necessary to make deep research on the relations between norms and power, and between norms and international peace and security.