Mainstream Theories to Explain Paradiplomacy

This chapter aims to identify how mainstream theories of International Relations explain the foreign relations of local governments, such as cities, states, municipalities, counties, and other types of subnational actors. The idea is to find variables that are needed to study and key assumptions that those approaches offer regarding the external activity of local governments. The chapter also analyzes external and domestic factors that can explain why subnational actors are interested in participating on the global stage. It will also include the primary economic, political, cultural, and security motivations they must carry internationally. The chapter identifies the main assumptions of the realist, liberal, institutional, constructivist, and Marxist theories regarding the decisions and actions of local actors in the context of paradiplomacy. Finally, the author uses the three levels of analysis to explain such activity. It includes individual elements and domestic and systemic factors that influence and motivate the international relations of subnational actors.