Holsti: Stephen D. Krasner, Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy

Holsti, K., 2000. Stephen D. Krasner, Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 1(01), 157-172.

Krasner highlights four different kinds of sovereignty: domestic sovereignty, interdependence sovereignty, international legal sovereignty and Westphalian sovereignty (157).

Krasner has historically been a proponent of arguments that center around power and the interests of the powerful being those that driver international relations. In this book, he offers an account of norms, and tries to undermine the belief that sovereignty in a norm that stands above the workings of power. Krasner talks about durable norms, which are norms that have become deeply embedded within the action of state actors. “Organized hypocrisy, in contrast, is the situation where a norm is durable, but where behavior frequently violates it” (158).

Krasner makes his case through a rich documentation of historical case studies. Holsti argues that, “The frequent violations of sovereignty seriously challenge constructivist, liberal institutionalist, and English school positions about the importance of norms in international relations” (159). However, Holsti argues that there is a fundamental distinction that is lacking in this work: that between influence and authority. “Influence and power concern capabilities and outcomes…In contrast, authority concerns rights, obligations and status” (159). Additionally, Krasner does not allow for states to be constrained in any reasonable way.

“The theoretical contribution of this study is nevertheless prominent. Krasner offers a robust argument—one consistent throughout his career—that the ‘logic of consequences’ better explains outcomes in international relations than does a ‘logic of appropriateness’” (161). Holsti, however, argues that he goes too far in negating the influence of interest, norms or identities.