ABSTRACT
The central task of this chapter is to introduce the theoretical basis to explain why and under what conditions third states comply with (or defy) the new norms of their institutional environment. As with the theory chapter on enlargement, I start with an overview of the relevant literature in order to address the remaining blind spots in the current state of research and to introduce my own framework of analysis. The following section thus contains the conceptualization of the dependent and independent variables including the theory-driven hypothesis about the conditions and mechanisms of international socialization.
