Different Strands of Liberalism - Essay Example

Different strands of liberalism

Introduction

International relations has been theorised in different perspectives. One of the theories on international relations is the liberal approach. Liberal approach to theorising international relations includes perspectives such as institutionalism, realism and non rational approaches. The premise of liberalism is rooted on the platform that global politics is shaped by the domestic and transnational society which spurs socio-cultural and economic engagement beyond the national geographical scope. However, such interactions can be limited or enhanced by the state policy or preferred preferences therefore benefiting or curtailing various domestic groups in realising their goals. This paper seeks to establish the different strands of liberalism.

There are three principal perspectives or variants on liberalism and state preferences and behaviour. The first variant is the ideational liberal theories that are founded on the premise that state preference is a function of the desirable types of political, socioeconomic and cultural order that is embodied on a states social identity and values.  This implies that foreign policy within this variant is attained through creating a state-specific order that resonates with social actors aspirations, ideals and identity that they deem legitimate. In a nutshell, the social legitimacy dictated to state by social actors is likely to impact on her behaviour and this in turn is likely to generate certain externalities at the international level and as such defining the international relations. The critical ingredients in identity creation include national identity, political ideology and socioeconomic regulation.

The second is the commercial liberal theories that argue that the cornerstone of international interaction or state behaviour is rooted on the position of domestic industries of a given state at domestic and global level, owners of assets and workers. In this regard, the realisation is that global and domestic economy structure is a function of foreign economic and security policies. Equally, the theories posits that economic incentives does not directly lead to peace and global free trade, but opines that this is a function of interaction between aggregate incentives and distributional consequences.

The final is the republican liberal theories that suppose the integral role or position of domestic representative institutions, executive-legislative relations, elites, and leadership dynamics. The role of these institutions falls within their ability to pile pressure that leads to the formulation of associated policies. In this regard, the realisation is that the plausibility of these policies is constructed in favor of the priming institutions within the state. It is these generated policies that greatly shape State Corporation at the international level.

Conclusion

The focus of this discourse was to outline the various strands of liberalism. The paper established that liberalism within the domain of international relations is anchored on the internal/ domestic actions such as policies and socio-cultural expectations of states. The paper realized that there are three strands of liberalism that informs state preferences and behavior. The first is the ideational liberal theories that suppose that state action is a function of socio-cultural value prescribed by the elements within it. This is mostly informed by national identity and political ideology. The second one is the economic liberalism that is anchored on economic interdependence. The final one is the republican liberal theories that are constructed within the domain of internal institutional actors especially those in the position to influence policies.