Liberal Bias: Why the International Governance System is Struggling and the Contestation Strategies of Authoritarian States

Abstract

Why do countries like China and Russia appeal to international law to support their policy? In addition, why is the liberal system in a crisis if ideas like democracy and human rights are so pervasive within the political debate? In the following paper, I will try to answer these questions by looking at how liberal theory has influenced the development of today’s governance structure. I will then move to comment on what I call the "liberal bias" of international governance referring to relevant literature on the concept of categorisation and categorical thought in neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Finally, following my theoretical baseline, I will present a quick analysis of how autocracies use linguistic categories to influence the evolution of liberal values.