Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T07:06:07.493Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Do arguments matter? Argumentation and negotiation success at the 1997 Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2013

Janine Reinhard ,
Jan Biesenbender  and
Katharina Holzinger
Janine Reinhard
Affiliation:
Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
Jan Biesenbender
Affiliation:
Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
Katharina Holzinger*
Affiliation:
Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
*
*E-mail: katharina.holzinger@uni-konstanz.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is widely debated in studies of international negotiations why certain negotiators are more successful than others. Institutionalist and rationalist approaches claim that institutions and negotiators’ resources largely explain the outcome of negotiations, whereas constructivist approaches stress the importance of shared norms and values. The article asks to what extent the use of normative arguments explains negotiation success in EU treaty negotiations. We apply our approach to the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Amsterdam. We first define normative arguments as justifications for positions that refer to common norms and develop a concept of common values for EU constitutional negotiations. Second, we assess to what degree governments justify their positions by normative arguments using an automated analysis of position papers. Finally, we ask if such justifications increase success in negotiations. The results of our statistical models show that arguing affects negotiation success significantly and positively.

Keywords

arguingnormsEU treaty negotiationsTreaty of Amsterdamdictionary approach
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 283 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © European Consortium for Political Research 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arregui, J. Thomson, R. (2009), ‘States’ bargaining success in the European Union’, Journal of European Public Policy 16(5): 655–676.Google Scholar
Bailer, S. (2004), ‘Bargaining success in the European Union. The impact of exogenous and endogenous power resources’, European Union Politics 5: 99–123.Google Scholar
Bailer, S. (2006), ‘The dimensions of power in the European Union’, Comparative European Politics 4(4): 355–378.Google Scholar
Barry, B. (1980), ‘Is it better to be powerful or lucky? Part 1’, Political Studies 28(2): 183–194.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J.M. Tullock, G. (1962), The Calculus of Consent. Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Christiansen, T., Falkner, G. Joergensen, K.E. (2002), ‘Theorizing EU treaty reform: beyond diplomacy and bargaining’, Journal of European Public Policy 9(1): 12–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deitelhoff, N. (2009), ‘The discursive process of legalization: charting islands of persuasion in the ICC case’, International Organization 63(1): 33–65.Google Scholar
Döring, H., Manow, P. (2010), Parliament and government composition database (ParlGov): an infrastructure for empirical information on parties, elections and governments. Retrieved 1 June 2011 from http://parlgov.org/.Google Scholar
Dryzek, J.S. (2006), Deliberative Global Politics, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Dür, A. Mateo, G. (2010), ‘Bargaining power and negotiation tactics: the negotiations on the EU's financial perspective, 2007–13’, Journal of Common Market Studies 48(3): 557–578.Google Scholar
Elster, J. (1995), ‘Strategic uses of arguments’, in K. Arrow (ed.), Barriers to Conflict Resolution, New York: Norton, pp. 237–255.Google Scholar
Elster, J. (1998), ‘Deliberation and constitution making’, in J. Elster (ed.), Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 97–122.Google Scholar
Finke, D. (2010), European integration and its limits: intergovernmental conflicts and their domestic origins, Essex: European Consortium for Political Research Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, J. (1984), The Theory of Communicative Action. Vol. 1 of Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Héritier, A. (2007), Explaining Institutional Change in Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzinger, K. (2001), ‘Kommunikationsmodi und Handlungstypen in den Internationalen Beziehungen. Anmerkungen zu einigen irreführenden Dichotomien’, Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen 8: 243–286.Google Scholar
Holzinger, K. (2004a), ‘Bargaining by arguing. An empirical analysis based on Speech Act Theory’, Political Communication 21: 195–222.Google Scholar
Holzinger, K. (2004b), ‘Strategic arguing’, Swiss Political Science Review 10: 201–210.Google Scholar
Hosli, M. (2002), ‘Preferences and power in the European Union’, Homo Oeconomicus 19: 311–326.Google Scholar
Hosli, M. (2008), ‘Negotiating European economic and monetary union’, Homo Oeconomicus 25(2): 203–223.Google Scholar
Hug, S. König, T. (2002), ‘In view of ratification: governmental preferences and domestic constraints at the Amsterdam intergovernmental conference’, International Organization 56(2): 447–476.Google Scholar
Hurrelmann, A., Krell-Laluhove, Z., Nullmeier, F., Schneider, S., Wiesener, A. (2009), ‘Why the democratic nation-state is still legitimate: a study of media discourses’, European Journal of Political Research 48: 483–515.Google Scholar
König, T., Hug, S. (2000), ‘Ratifying Maastricht: Parliamentary Votes on International Treaties and Theoretical Solution Concepts’, European Union Politics 1(1): 93–124.Google Scholar
König, T., Finke, D. Daimer, S. (2005), ‘Ignoring the non-ignorables? Missingness and missing positions’, European Union Politics 6(3): 269–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landwehr, C. Holzinger, K. (2010), ‘Institutional determinants of deliberative interaction’, European Political Science Review 2(4): 373–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laver, M. Garry, J. (2000), ‘Estimating policy positions from political texts’, American Journal of Political Science 44(3): 619–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lax, D.A. Sebenius, J.K. (1985), ‘The power of alternatives or the limits to negotiation’, Negotiation Journal 1: 163–179.Google Scholar
Linhart, E. (2006), Die Erklärungskraft spiel- und tauschtheoretischer Verhandlungsmodelle in Abhängigkeit vom Institutionalisierungsgrad des Verhandlungssystems, Mannheim: Mannheim University Press.Google Scholar
Magnette, P. (2004), ‘Deliberation or bargaining? Coping with constitutional conflicts in the convention on the future of Europe’, in Erik. O. Eriksen, John E. Fossum and Augustin J. Menendez (eds), Developing a Constitution for Europe, London: Routledge, pp. 207–225.Google Scholar
Milner, H.V. (1997), Interests, Institutions, and Information: Domestic Politics and International Relations, Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Monar, J. Wessels, W. (2001), European Union After the Treaty of Amsterdam, London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, A. (1998), The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and the State Power from Messina to Maastricht, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Morgenthau, H.J. (1952), ‘The national interest of the United States’, American Political Science Review 46: 961–988.Google Scholar
Morin, J.-F. Gold, E.R. (2010), ‘Consensus-seeking, distrust and rhetorical entrapment: The WTO decision on access to medicines’, European Journal of International Relations 16(4): 563–587.Google Scholar
Müller, H. (2004), ‘Arguing, bargaining and all that: communicative action, rationalist theory and the logic of appropriateness in international relations’, European Journal of International Relations 10(3): 395–435.Google Scholar
Naurin, D. (2010), ‘Most common when least important: deliberation in the European Union Council of Ministers’, British Journal of Political Science 40(1): 31–50.Google Scholar
Niemann, A. (2004), ‘Between communicative action and strategic action: the Article 113 Committee and the negotiations on the WTO Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement’, Journal of European Public Policy 11(3): 379–407.Google Scholar
Putnam, R.D. (1988), ‘Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games’, International Organization 42(3): 427–460.Google Scholar
Risse, T. (2000), ‘Let's argue! Communicative action in international relations’, International Organization 54(1): 1–39.Google Scholar
Risse, T. Kleine, M. (2010), ‘Deliberation in negotiations’, Journal of European Public Policy 17(5): 708–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rittberger, B. (2005), Building Europe's Parliament: Democratic Representation Beyond the Nation State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scharpf, F.W. (1999), Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scharpf, F.W. (2009), ‘Legitimacy in the multilevel European polity’, European Political Science Review 1(2): 173–204 doi:10.1017/S1755773909000204.Google Scholar
Schelling, T.C. (1960), The Strategy of Conflict, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, F. (2001), ‘The community trap: liberal norms, rhetorical action, and the Eastern enlargement of the European Union’, International Organization 55(1): 47–80.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, F. (2003), The EU, NATO and the Integration of Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, F., Rittberger, B., Bürgin, A. Schwellnus, G. (2006), ‘Conditions for EU constitutionalization: a qualitative comparative analysis’, Journal of European Public Policy 13(8): 1168–1189.Google Scholar
Schneider, G. Cederman, L.-E. (1994), ‘The change of tide in political cooperation: a limited information model of European integration’, International Organization 48(4): 633–662.Google Scholar
Slapin, J.B. (2006), ‘Who is powerful? Examining preferences and testing sources of bargaining strength at European intergovernmental conferences’, European Union Politics 7(1): 51–76.Google Scholar
Slapin, J.B. (2008), ‘Bargaining power at Europe's intergovernmental conferences: testing institutional and intergovernmental theories’, International Organization 62(1): 131–162.Google Scholar
Slapin, J.B. (2009), ‘Exit, voice, and cooperation: bargaining power in international organizations and federal systems’, Journal of Theoretical Politics 21(2): 187–211.Google Scholar
Stone, P., Dunphy, D.C., Smith, M.S., Ogilvie, D.M. (1966), The General Inquirer: A Computer Approach to Content Analysis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Sullivan, J. Lowe, W. (2010), ‘Chen Shui-bian: on independence’, China Quarterly 203: 619–638.Google Scholar
Thurner, P.W., Pappi, F.U., Stoiber, M. (2002), ‘EU intergovernmental conferences. A Quantitative Analytical Reconstruction and Data-Handbook of Domestic Preference Formation, Transnational Networks, and Dynamics of Compromise during the Amsterdam Treaty Negotiations’. Mannheim: Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung.Google Scholar
Tsebelis, G. (2002), Veto Players. How Political Institutions Work, Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Holzinger Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Holzinger Supplementary Material(File)
File 96.3 KB