REALIST ENVIRONMENT, LIBERAL PROCESS, AND DOMESTIC-LEVEL VARIABLES

This article examines the deductive basis upon which domestic-level th eorizing may be combined with liberal and realist systemic-level theor y in order to account for international outcomes. It is particularly c oncerned with whether existing systemic theory can incorporate domesti c-lever variables in a causally consistent rather than ad hoc manner. In addressing such a concern, it confronts the widely herd assumption in the IR theory literature that liberalism is more accommodating of d omestic-level variables and their potential causal impact than is real ism. When the deductive logic of systemic liberal and realist theory i s examined, however, it becomes dear that domestic-level variables can be consistently causal in systemic realist theory, but are accorded l ittle causal weight in systemic liberal theory. The article concludes that realism is actually more accommodating of domestic-level variable s and theorizing than is liberalism. Given the common misconceptions w ithin the field regarding the relationship between systemic theories a nd domestic-level theorizing, issues of theoretical causal compatibili ty must be considered if domestic-level variables are going to be inco rporated in a rigorous rather than ad hoc manner.