Description
In this article, we develop a state-in-society approach to international status by placing an emphasis on individual perceptions of status. In doing so, we distinguish a country's status from its overall national power or capacity. We argue that a state's claim for higher international status needs to be matched by individual perceptions of higher status in order to be legitimate. This process of domestic legitimization in turn is a prerequisite for international recognition of the state's status. Our conceptualization of status therefore differs from the conventional understanding of the term as we take status as a per-capita variable instead of an aggregate variable at the national level. We illustrate the importance of our conceptualization of status with an application to international migration. We show that the flow of international migration is more of a function of return to nationality, which is an individual-level variable, rather than the overall material capability of the destination country. The overarching message of this article is that the recognition of the masses matters and is consequential for states' claims for higher status. Status claims matched and supported by individual recognitions of such claims are more likely to be more successful and sustainable in the long run.
