ABSTRACT
The book proposes a theory of state compliance with international law that is premised on the transformation of two key state practices: the legalization of the inter-state legitimation of state practices, and the lawyerization of intra-state policymaking. This chapter lays out and analyzes the evidence supporting this empirical premise. With respect to the international practice of legitimation, the first part of the chapter provides a quantitative analysis of legitimacy debates in the UN Security Council since 1945. Probing Security Council discussions about seven international security crises, ranging from the Korean War in 1950 until the Georgian War in 2008, the chapter shows that in the 1980s international law became the prominent frame of reference in intergovernmental legitimacy debates pertaining to the use of force. The second part of the chapter compiles the qualitative information available regarding the decisional empowerment of legal advisors in foreign ministries and the military. The information presented covers several countries from all regions of the world, and supports the premise that the lawyerization of the state is a global phenomenon. Even if there are important cross-national differences in the level of lawyerization in each country, the global historical trend is an increase in the empowerment of state legal advisors.
