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9 - Ordering Principles

from Part II - Waltzian Structural Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

Jack Donnelly
Affiliation:
University of Denver
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Summary

This chapter begins by looking at Waltz’s other political ordering principle, hierarchy – which, like anarchy, is not in fact an ordering principle. Saying that a system “is hierarchical” merely indicates that it has some unspecified set of relations of stratification and functional differentiation. “Hierarchy,” rather than a structural ordering principle, is a residual category of non-anarchic orders (that, like most residuals, obscures the diversity of the “things” lumped together). And, as the preceding chapters have shown, most international systems, which by definition are anarchic, are also hierarchical. Therefore, even if anarchy and hierarchy are ordering principles, international systems do not have singular ordering principles. The remainder of the chapter looks critically at recent efforts by Ryan Griffiths and by Mathias Albert, Barry Buzan, and Michael Zurn to develop alternative accounts of political ordering principles. I conclude that the problem is not that Waltz has misidentified the ordering principles of international systems but that international systems do not have ordering principles.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Ordering Principles
  • Jack Donnelly, University of Denver
  • Book: Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009355193.011
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  • Ordering Principles
  • Jack Donnelly, University of Denver
  • Book: Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009355193.011
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Ordering Principles
  • Jack Donnelly, University of Denver
  • Book: Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009355193.011
Available formats
×