ABSTRACT
Neo-institutionalism is a critique that exposes the normative assumptions of liberal universalism to empirical scrutiny. This chapter establishes the discursive context of neo-institutional policy intervention, situating it within a paradigm break with classic liberalism. It provides the reader with the overarching ideological changes behind the rise of neo-institutionalism. The chapter analyzes how neo-institutionalism inverts the liberal relation between subjects and institutions, seeing the former as derivative of the latter. It summarizes two influential narratives of the non-Western state – globalization and state failure – mainstreaming reality-as-critique. The chapter examines Stephen Krasner's 'unbundling of sovereignty'. It shows how Krasner's claim that 'domestic', 'interdependence', 'international legal', and 'Westphalian/Vattelian' sovereignty are not 'logically related' undercuts liberal-universal framings of IR, reinforcing the rise of reality-as-critique. The chapter explores how neo-institutionalism erases socio-economic structure from the picture, thereby facilitating policy expansion. By zooming in on individual rational choice, rather than structural power relations, society appears as open to policy intervention.
