ABSTRACT
This chapter examines those definitions of empire that are produced in the context of qualitative research. It distinguishes two broad linguistic domains or scholarly language users' communities: one is international relations theory (international relations studies, IRS), and the closely related jurisprudence branch, known as international law. Then there is comparative politics which, in turn, is very closely related to another jurisprudence branch called constitutional law, or legal "state theory", since both fields associate international relations with international law. IRS focuses on the specific external features of empires that characterise their relations with other polities, their foreign politics, and the role they play in international politics. The principle of statehood is hierarchy, while anarchy means equality of all parties. Realist international relations theory seeks to disclose the laws of this anarchy between states.
