Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Diehl & Ku: The Dynamics of International Law

Paul F. Diehl (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - Political Science) & Charlotte Ku (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - Law) have published The Dynamics of International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2010). Here's the abstract:
Paul F. Diehl and Charlotte Ku’s new framework for international law divides it into operating and normative systems. The authors provide a theory of how these two systems interact, which explains how changes in one system precipitate changes and create capacity in the other. A punctuated equilibrium theory of system evolution, drawn from studies of biology and public policy studies, provides the basis for delineating the conditions for change and helps explain a pattern of international legal change that is often infrequent and sub-optimal, but still influential.