Introduction

Decentralized norms are supra-national structures that cut across boundaries. Not just national governments but many other forces combine to maintain them and keep them effective. They are in the most basic sense of the word a context within which states act. They are interesting structures because, pace power structures à la Waltz (1979), they cannot be reduced to any state attribute, but are the result of domestic political factors, the spread of ideas, and the formation of non-governmental pressure groups. The decolonization norm is one such structure.

This norm stipulates that colonies and dependent territories have a right to self-determination and eventually to political independence. By 1980 the norm is virtually uncontested, signaled by the fact that the whole topic is considered primarily in historical terms. Around 1800 politicians, philosophers, and peoples created it under the auspices of the American and French Revolutions. The notion of self-determination for Caucasian settled colonies and the idea of nation-staies combined had by 1980 conquered the whole world.

Throughout the nineteenth century the norm of decolonization developed, notably in Great Britain, for European-settled colonies such as New Zealand and Australia.