Phoenix From the Ashes or the Goose is Cooked: Critical Reflections on Liberal Democracies and the Neoliberal International Economy.
Date
2015-09-08
Authors
Stuckenberg, Matt
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Abstract
Liberalism can be generally characterized as a political ideology that assumes the rational, self-interested nature of human beings. However, two distinct strands of liberal theory have evolved from this shared construction of the human agent, namely state-oriented and market-oriented liberalism. It will be shown that state-oriented liberalism provides the theoretical core of liberal democratic states, whereas market-oriented liberalism provides the theoretical core for the globalized market economy. This thesis will uncover a profound tension through a discussion of the new constitutional effects of the investor-state regime. Furthermore, this thesis will show that the recent changes of the investor-state regime have failed to resolve the theoretical tension between liberal democracies and the investor-state regime. And finally, this thesis argues that the only way to resolve the tension between the two strands of liberalism is to incorporate liberal democratic principles into the investor-state regime.
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Keywords
International Investment Law, International Political Economy, Neoliberalism, Liberalism, Political Theory