Norwegian Policy Elites' Attitudes Toward the UN: A Functionalist Perspective
| Author | Jostein Mykletun |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677601100206 |
| Published date | 01 June 1976 |
| Date | 01 June 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Norwegian
Policy
Elites’
Attitudes
Toward
the
UN:
A
Functionalist
Perspective
JOSTEIN
MYKLETUN
Møre
og
Romsdal
District
College,
Molde
Mykletun,
J.
Norwegian
Policy
Elites’
Attitudes
Toward
the
UN:
A
Functionalist
Per-
spective.
Cooperation
and
Conflict,
XI,
1976,
241-258.
The
article
is
based
on
the
author’s
Ph.D.
dissertation,
Only
Through
a
Function:
A
Case
Study
of
Norwegian
Policy
Elites’
Attitudes
Toward
the
United
Nations,
Uni-
versity
of
Minnesota,
1975.
The
central
purpose
of
the
study
was
to
provide
an
empirical
test
of the
functionalist
notion
that
people
who
participate
in
the
activities
of
international
organizations
develop
favorable
attitudes
toward
further
international
cooperation.
The
subjects
in
the
study
are
Norwegian
civil
servants
and
parliamen-
tarians.
Although
generally
weak,
and
lacking
statistical
significance,
overall,
direc-
tional
support
was
found
for
the
proposed
relationship
between
contact
with
interna-
tional
organization
and
attitude
change.
The
author
suggests
some
measures
that
may
further
enhance
the
influence
of
UN
Charter
ideals
on
Norway’s
foreign
policy.
Jostein
Mykletun,
Møre
og
Romsdal
District
College,
Molde.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Large
portions
of
the
international
poli-
tics
literature
explore
the
effects
of
in-
ternational
interaction,
particularly
with
regard
to
the
possibilities
of
a
more
peaceful
and
cooperative
world.
As
far
as
the
study
of
inter-nation
interaction
in
the
UN
is
concerned,
the
analysis
has
often
been
concentrated
on
such
matters
as
the
Organization’s
ability
to
halt
or
prevent
international
conflicts,
or
con-
tribute
to
the
creation
of
a
more
just
world
economic
order.
In
other
words,
the
analytic
target
has
been
the
UN’s
capacity
to
effectively
deal
with
interna-
tional
conflicts
of
a
political,
military
or
socio-economic
nature.
Less
prominent
in
the
search
of
posi-
tive
effects
from
the
interaction
taking
place
in
the
UN,
we
find
a
somewhat
different
perspective,
far
less
concrete,
and
consequently
more
difficult
to
deal
with
empirically.
I
refer
to
those
studies
which
have
sought
to
determine
how
individuals,
who
take
part
in
interna-
tional
interaction
on
behalf of
their
re-
spective
governments,
are
influenced
by
their
UN
participation.
Do
their
attitudes
toward
the
purpose
and
value
of
interna-
tional
interaction
change?
If
so,
do
their
attitudes
become
more
positive?
Finally,
will
their
attitudes
influence
their
coun-
tries’
foreign
policies,
thus
making
for
a
generally
more
conciliatory
international
climate?
I
will
explore
questions
of
this
sort
by
way
of
studying
Norway’s
ties
with
the
UN.
Naturally,
with
a
case
study
no
one
theoretical
proposition
can
be
given
a
satisfactory
or
valid
test
that
is
generali-
zable
to
the
universe.
However,
that
is
not
a
primary
purpose.
Rather,
a
central
aim
has
been
to
conduct
a
case
study
that
may
have
the
potential
of
enriching
what
currently
consists
of
a
largely
in-
ferential
body
of
knowledge
about
the
impact
of
international
organization
on
the
participants.
In
this
article
I
will
present
some
of
the
most
important
observations
made
in
the
study,
and
also
discuss
some
theoretical
and
political
implications
on
the
basis
of
these
observations.
However,
before
do-
ing
so
a
brief
outline
of
the
thoretical
242
background
for
the
study
will
be
given,
together
with
a
presentation
of
the
ap-
plied
research
scheme.
II.
SOME
HYPOTHESES
DRAWN
FROM
FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalist
thought
represents
the
the-
oretical
stimulus
for
this
study.
Func-
tionalism
is
the
one
theory
direction
in
the
international
politics
literature
which
provides
the
most
comprehensive
treat-
ment
of
our
sort
of
research
questions.’
A
central
functionalist
notion
is
that
people
who
participate
in
the
activities
of
international
organizations
develop
favorable
attitudes
toward
further
inter-
national
cooperation.
The
essence
of
the
functionalist
notion
is
that
by
establishing
cooperation
in
so-called
consensus-prone
areas,
those
involved
learn
modes
and
habits
of
cooperation.
This
is
a
rather
simplified
formulation
of
the
functionalist
thesis,
and
it
ought
to
be
emphasized
that
the
literature
points
to
a
number
of
conditions
that
have
to
be
met
for the
thesis
to
hold
empirically.
Such
conditions
have
espe-
cially
been
explored
by
members
of
the
so-called
neo-functionalist
tradition.2
This
study
pays
primary
attention
to
those
aspects
of
functionalist
theory
concerned
with
the
processes
and
effects
of
cross-national
interaction
among
gov-
evnmental
representatives
within
inter-
national
organizations,
particularly
to
the
extent
that
such
effects
may
be
related
to
possible
changes
and/or
modifications
in
national
policies.
In
short,
the
central
theoretical
focus
is
to
further
investigate
functionalist
propositions
as
to
the
as-
sumed
attitudinal,
behavioral
and
policy
changes
of
interaction
among
nations’
representatives
in
established
fora
for
multilateral
diplomacy.
What
follows
is
a
listing
of
some
of
the
hypotheses
that
were
probed
in
the
orig-
inal
study.
The
hypotheses
are
largely
formulated
on
the
basis
of
the
kind
of
factoral
conditions
treated
by
function-
alist
thought.
Later
I
shall
discuss
some
empirical
observations
in
terms
of
these
five
hypotheses.
,
Hypothesis
1
Persons
having
dealings
with
internation-
al
organization
activities,
either
as
dele-
gates
to
meetings
or
as
officials
in
interested
governmental
units,
will
tend
to
develop
generally
favorable
attitudes
of
such
activities,
although
increased
sophistication
will
militate
against
un-
critical
acceptance.
Hypothesis
2
Such
dealings
will
also
tend
to
promote
persons’
willingness
to
have
their
nation
take
steps
toward
further
international
cooperation.
Hypothesis 3
Such
dealings
will
also
tend
to
breed
willingness
to
have
portions
of
their
nation’s
sovereignty
transferred
to
inter-
national
organization.
Hypothesis 4
Persons
who
prior
to
their
current
assign-
ments
accupied
roles
that
called
for
dealings
with
international
organization
matters
will
tend
to
be
more
favorable
toward
such
matters
than
persons
with
no
such
prior
experience.
Hypotlzesis
5
The
more
extensive
a
governmental
unit’s
dealings
with
international
organi-
zation
activities,
the
more
likely
the
role
occupants
in
such
a
unit
are
to
regard
the
activities
as
their
’client’
activities
and
develop
an
attitude
of
favorable
responsiveness.
III.
AN
APPROXIMATE
APPLICA-
TION
OF
THE
FUNCTIONALIST
MODEL
It
should
be
stressed that
although
this
investigation
rests
primarily
on
the
theo-
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