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Abstract:
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Under what conditions do states change their behaviors to conform to international norms? While states often agree with international norms in principle and rhetoric, whether or not the state changes its behaviors to conform to the norm is much less predictable and occurs much less often. This thesis seeks to provide an answer to this research question by investigating the empirical puzzle of why the United Kingdom and Japan relieved their international debt holdings as a result of the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Where previous campaigns to enact debt relief were largely unsuccessful, Jubilee 2000 was able to engender favorable outcomes by utilizing mass media and framing strategies to set state expectations of behavior. The campaign achieved this by refining the nebulous concept of international finance as a social idea. Through mass media and framing, Jubilee 2000 was able to institutionalize a refined notion of international debt, setting expectations of state behavior. Ultimately this thesis contributes to the growing body of literature that explores international norms, institutions, mass media and framing processes in an attempt to explain international polity outcomes. |