Normative power spotting: an ontological and methodological appraisal

Abstract

This article presents a renewed critical engagement with normative power. It overcomes the conceptual vagueness and force-for-good connotation inherent in much of the scholarship on normative power by privileging the ontological question and concentrates on what is a normative power. It offers a characterization of normative power and argues that neither universal norms nor a particular set of instruments can be considered as ontological necessities. They do determine the forms of normative power: cosmopolitan; soft imperialist; and despotic.

The four-step methodology, presented in this article, to ‘spot’ a normative power and the forms of normative power rely on a clear distinction between the ethical and the ontological question on normative power. It does not ignore ethical considerations; rather the comparison of different forms of normative power offers the intellectual tools to recognize deviations from the ethical ideal-type of cosmopolitan normative power.

Keywords:

• Civilian power
• European foreign policy
• European Union
• normative power
• reflexive

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Giselle Bosse, Sophie Vanhoonacker, Tannelie Blom, Ian Manners and the JEPP referees for their helpful and insightful comments.