Description
This article outlines a neoconstructivist approach for understanding states’ intervention choices. Constructivism—a dominant international relations framework primarily associated with qualitative small-n analysis—stresses that states define “appropriate” behaviour in accordance to identities shaped by orientation toward international norms. A neoconstructivist approach maps quantitative methods to tenets of constructivism and emphasizes that empirical indicators can reveal a state’s normative orientation. We construct a typology of state actors in the human protection domain through a k-means clustering algorithm—deriving groups of “principled”, “performer”, and “pragmatist” states. The empirical analysis demonstrates the utility of a neoconstructivist framework, as the behaviour of states between clusters can be highly divergent. In accommodating methods as disparate as regression and synthetic control, a typological approach to analysing state action can be broadly applied.
