Samantha: Oh my. The next elections excite me. Who are you rooting for?

Charlotte calls 3 girls answer. Shot should include their phones ringing with Charlottes name on it. (note for the video editor: show 4-divisioned frame with the girls on every square)

Charlotte: Hey ladies! I’m in Manhattaaaan! Miranda: Niiiiice. But I will catch up after my

meeting. See you! Carrie: Oh yes. Let’s meet up at the usual place. Samantha: Alright then. I will be dressing up in a

few. See ya ladies!

Charlotte: Oh my, I haven’t seen you ladies for a while, and you’ve all become more alluring than ever!Miranda: Seriously?! I haven’t been sleeping decently, lately!

Carrie: You know, Miranda, sometimes you just have to accept complements.

Samantha: You betcha. And work actually makes me more confident. Anyway,

Samantha: Oh my. The next elections excite me. Who are you rooting for?

Miranda: I’m betting Obama’s gonna bag it. I mean, Obama will change history. Don’t you think so?

Carrie: Oh yes. And voting now, seems more important than ever.

Charlotte: Lucky Ladies. Carrie: what’s with the sarcasm?

Charlotte: You know what? In Saudi Arabia, just 4 years ago people were given the right to vote – EXCEPT FOR – women. For sixty years before 2005, Saudi Arabia didn’t experience elections due to monarchy. Imagine, 60 years!

Miranda: Exactly. Apparently, the UN initiated 5 treaties, and one of which is (insert video of CEDAW – highlighting several countries –)

VOICE OVER: CEDAW which stands for Convention on the Elimination on All forms of Discrimination Against Women, last 1979. Under this treaty is the provision on Women’s Suffrage. In fact, 185 countries ratified this treaty, except for 8 countries, one of which is our very own, US, and the other less dominant countries which are predominantly Muslim like Sudan, Iran, and Qatar. But other countries despite cultural and religious inhibitions ratified the treaty but modified it, one of which is Saudi Arabia.

Samantha: Hey there brainy woman, are women’s rights still considered a norm? I mean, the US as a dominating power refused to ratify it. One powerful country can veto all the other states if it refuses to adhere to it.

Miranda: Of course it is a norm! Let us not forget andrew heywood who asserted that we are now facing disenchantment in amoral power politics of the super power leading to Neo Ideal liberalism emphasizing the practical value of morality and in particular, respect for human rights and national interdependence

Charlotte: Which means? O_O

Carrie: Which means that just because a dominating power did not ratify a treaty, doesn’t mean it is not a norm. A norm emerges from emphasizing morality in the international system, and not a result of an imposition by a super power. In fact, one of the critical states, those without which the achievement of the substantive norm goal is compromised, that initiated the right of women to vote is the US. AND! My great granny Elizabeth B. Stanton and her best friend Susan B. Anthony are the first US women to advocate for women suffrage.

(Insert video)(Voice Over: They are both norm entrepreneurs; We should remember that norms do not appear out of thin air. They’re actively built by agents having strong notions about appropriate or desirable behavior in their community.) That’s why my great grandmother rallied and contested in order for their cause to be voiced out at the international level. They need organizational platform from and through which they can promote their norms. In my granny’s case they sought the help of UN which advocates decolonization, sovereignty and humanitarian relief because the UN has leverage and resources over weak or developing states they seek to convert to their normative convictions.

Samantha: So I guess what Carrie’s trying to say is that their goal is to challenge not the truth but whether it is good, appropriate and deserving of praise.

Charlotte: So how did women’s suffrage become a norm?

Miranda: It occurred during what scholars refer to as the “tipping point” which occurs after 1/3 of the total states in the state system adopt the norm. This was during 1930 when 20 states, approximately 1/3 of all states in the system at that time, had accepted women’s suffrage, which include US, UK and Russia.

Charlotte: So does that simply end there? Miranda: Certainly not. Carrie: There is a second phase called norm

cascading. Charlotte: Oooh cascading. ;)

Carrie: This is when new countries begin to adopt new norms more rapidly even without domestic pressure for such change. Also, states are introduced with better political institutions that deserve obedience therefore they comply with norms to demonstrate that they have adapted to the social environment where they “belong” (Pauline does the gesture of quotation marks). Or we could think of it as: state leaders follow norms because they want others to think well of them and they want to think well of themselves or in order to avoid disapproval aroused by norm violations and thus enhance national esteem.

Samantha: Ooooooooooh. Aroused eh?

Charlotte: Why… Hey miss, I’m sorry I can’t catch up! Are we talking about CEDAW or women’s suffrage?

Samantha: We are talking about CEDAW AND! Women’s suffrage. US did not ratify CEDAW because it actually has its own human rights provisions in its constitution which are also in line with CEDAW. BUT! It supported WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE which is ACTUALLY ONLY a part of CEDAW treaty.

Charlotte: SO, CEDAW is different from women’s suffrage?

Carrie: YES sweetie. CEDAW is actually a collection of norms. Since the US provided women’s suffrage in their constitution, we may imply that they are adopting women’s suffrage of CEDAW by allowing women to practice their right to vote.

Samantha: Because in fact, the US is a signatory of the treaty!

Miranda: RIGHT! So adding up other countries employing women’s suffrage, hence we can say that women’s suffrage has become a global norm. Meaning, it has been internalized, which is the last phase of the norm-lifecycle, since it assumed a taken-for-granted quality that makes conformance to a norm almost automatic. Internalized norms are powerful because behavior according to the norm is not questioned and hard to discern because actors do not seriously consider or discuss whether to conform. Having said that, we should not discount the fact that out of 192 UN member-states 3 do not practice suffrage while two other states have partial suffrage that privileges only the men.

Samantha: Furthermore, *and* to add to this intellectual discourse---

Nate: 4 cosmopolitans for 4 lovely ladies! Uhm, I’ve been eavesdropping for a while now, and I heard you were discussing something about norms which…

Charlotte: OH YES. Finally, someone who’ll gladly explain to me what these girls were talking about. Would you mind sir?

Nate: For a lovely lady like you, of course not?! I’m Nate by the way (winks) (camera focuses to Samantha who was surprised with the gesture). Well you know, to address the issues you were raising earlier, let me share what my friends Hall and Taylor messaged me through Facebook: there’s what you call normative institutionalism.

Charlotte: Normative Institutionalism? Well, that’s new. I only know Institutionalism. What about that?

Nate: Normative Institutionalism focuses on the shaping of the individual

as guided by society's norms or institutions. The norms and formal rules of institutions shape the actions of

individuals within them. Hence, individuals within institutions feel obligated and constrained by the norms and rules.

In IR, countries concur, ratify and adopt some treaties. With a great number of countries ratifying a given treaty, the rules therein becomes norms in the international system. Once countries ratify a treaty, they are constraint and obligated to adhere with its rules.

“Normative insttitutionalism is human action as driven by rules of appropriate or exemplary behavior, organized into institutions. Rules are followed because they are seen as natural, rightful, expected, and legitimate. Actors seek to fulfill the obligations encapsulated in a role, an identity, a membership in a political community or group... practices and expectations of its institutions.” - March and Olsen

Miranda: and don’t forget… Samantha: go impress this man! Miranda: … that Normative institutionalism is referred to as

"Sociological institutionalism". It defines institutions much more broadly than political scientist or economist and it includes also the symbol systems, cognitive scripts and moral templates, hence it breaks down the divide between 'institutions' and 'culture'.

Carrie: Well, I can see that CEDAW is the institution and the treaty is composed of rules that members of the United Nations have to adhere to. And based on that normative institutionalism that you guys were talking about, well, it explains, for instance, how the decisions of states regarding women’s suffrage cited in Article 7 of the CEDAW treaty came about.

Charlotte: Okay, Okay, OKAAAAY! girls, I had too much this talk and my head’s hurting because of jetlag. I’ll go ahead and get some sleep. See you, maybe tomorrow?

Samantha: Owkie-dokie. Goodbye sweetie. Charlotte stands, laughter fades away,

VOICE OVER: Sometimes genuine memories are not only

captured in old frames or photo albums but in the lightness of a good chat, a toast of cosmopolitan, or the company of your friends who never falter to amaze you each and every day despite all your differences.

THE END.