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Norm Regress: US Revisionism and the Slow Death of the Torture Norm

Is the norm against torture suffering a crisis of legitimacy within the United States, and if so, does this constitute a crisis in the norm itself? Can constructivist international relations theory explain how the norm came to be significantly weakened by its most important proponent? Constructivist literature on norms has hitherto suffered from a `nice norm bias' that does not adequately take into account the reversibility of so-called `internalized' norms like the one prohibiting torture. Through an examination of the rhetoric, policies and practices surrounding US interrogation after 9/11, this article addresses omissions in constructivist literature by providing a theoretical model to explain `norm regress', or the death of norms. It claims that the torture norm is suffering a crisis of legitimacy within the United States and any future incidences of torture by liberal states may well bring about a crisis of legitimacy in the international norm itself.

Key Words: Bush administration • constructivism • interrogation • legitimacy • morality • norms • regression • torture

International Relations, Vol. 23, No. 1, 5-25 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0047117808100607


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