Haggard, StephanSimmons, Beth2009-06-191987Haggard, Stephan, and Beth A. Simmons. 1987. Theories of international regimes. International Organization 41, no. 3: 491-517.0020-8183http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3117934Over the last decade, international regimes have become a major focus of empirical research and theoretical debate within international relations. This article provides a critical review of this literature. We survey contending definitions of regimes and suggest dimensions along which regimes vary over time or across cases; these dimensions might be used to operationalize “regime change.” We then examine four approaches to regime analysis: structural, game-theoretic, functional, and cognitive. We conclude that the major shortcoming of the regimes literature is its failure to incorporate domestic politics adequately. We suggest a research program that begins with the central insights of the interdependence literature which have been ignored in the effort to construct “systemic” theory.en-US10.1017/S0020818300027569