Author: Annette Freyberg-Inan
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317201434
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
This edited volume offers a systematic evaluation of how knowledge is produced by scholarly research into International Relations. The contributors explore three key questions: To what extent is scientific progress and accumulation of knowledge possible? What are the different accounts of how this process takes place? And what are the dominant critiques of these understandings? It is the first publication to survey the full range of perspectives available for evaluating scientific progress as well as dominant critiques of scientism. In its second part, the volume applies this range of perspectives to the research program on the democratic peace. It shows what we gain by accommodating and enabling dialogue among the full range of epistemological approaches. The contributors elaborate and defend the epistemological position of sociable pluralism as one that seeks to build bridges between soft positivism, critical theory, and critical realism. The underlying idea is that if the differences between the various approaches used by different communities of researchers can be understood more clearly, this will facilitate meaningful cross-cutting communication, dialogue, and debate and thereby enable us to address real-world problems more effectively. This timely and original work will be of great interest to advanced-level students and scholars dealing with philosophy of science and methodological questions in International Relations.
Evaluating Progress in International Relations
Author: Annette Freyberg-Inan
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317201434
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
This edited volume offers a systematic evaluation of how knowledge is produced by scholarly research into International Relations. The contributors explore three key questions: To what extent is scientific progress and accumulation of knowledge possible? What are the different accounts of how this process takes place? And what are the dominant critiques of these understandings? It is the first publication to survey the full range of perspectives available for evaluating scientific progress as well as dominant critiques of scientism. In its second part, the volume applies this range of perspectives to the research program on the democratic peace. It shows what we gain by accommodating and enabling dialogue among the full range of epistemological approaches. The contributors elaborate and defend the epistemological position of sociable pluralism as one that seeks to build bridges between soft positivism, critical theory, and critical realism. The underlying idea is that if the differences between the various approaches used by different communities of researchers can be understood more clearly, this will facilitate meaningful cross-cutting communication, dialogue, and debate and thereby enable us to address real-world problems more effectively. This timely and original work will be of great interest to advanced-level students and scholars dealing with philosophy of science and methodological questions in International Relations.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317201434
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
This edited volume offers a systematic evaluation of how knowledge is produced by scholarly research into International Relations. The contributors explore three key questions: To what extent is scientific progress and accumulation of knowledge possible? What are the different accounts of how this process takes place? And what are the dominant critiques of these understandings? It is the first publication to survey the full range of perspectives available for evaluating scientific progress as well as dominant critiques of scientism. In its second part, the volume applies this range of perspectives to the research program on the democratic peace. It shows what we gain by accommodating and enabling dialogue among the full range of epistemological approaches. The contributors elaborate and defend the epistemological position of sociable pluralism as one that seeks to build bridges between soft positivism, critical theory, and critical realism. The underlying idea is that if the differences between the various approaches used by different communities of researchers can be understood more clearly, this will facilitate meaningful cross-cutting communication, dialogue, and debate and thereby enable us to address real-world problems more effectively. This timely and original work will be of great interest to advanced-level students and scholars dealing with philosophy of science and methodological questions in International Relations.
Progress in International Relations Theory
Author: Colin Elman
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262262552
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 524
Book Description
All academic disciplines periodically appraise their effectiveness, evaluating the progress of previous scholarship and judging which approaches are useful and which are not. Although no field could survive if it did nothing but appraise its progress, occasional appraisals are important and if done well can help advance the field. This book investigates how international relations theorists can better equip themselves to determine the state of scholarly work in their field. It takes as its starting point Imre Lakatos's influential theory of scientific change, and in particular his methodology of scientific research programs (MSRP). It uses MSRP to organize its analysis of major research programs over the last several decades and uses MSRP's criteria for theoretical progress to evaluate these programs. The contributors appraise the progress of institutional theory, varieties of realist and liberal theory, operational code analysis, and other research programs in international relations. Their analyses reveal the strengths and limits of Lakatosian criteria and the need for metatheoretical metrics for evaluating scientific progress.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262262552
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 524
Book Description
All academic disciplines periodically appraise their effectiveness, evaluating the progress of previous scholarship and judging which approaches are useful and which are not. Although no field could survive if it did nothing but appraise its progress, occasional appraisals are important and if done well can help advance the field. This book investigates how international relations theorists can better equip themselves to determine the state of scholarly work in their field. It takes as its starting point Imre Lakatos's influential theory of scientific change, and in particular his methodology of scientific research programs (MSRP). It uses MSRP to organize its analysis of major research programs over the last several decades and uses MSRP's criteria for theoretical progress to evaluate these programs. The contributors appraise the progress of institutional theory, varieties of realist and liberal theory, operational code analysis, and other research programs in international relations. Their analyses reveal the strengths and limits of Lakatosian criteria and the need for metatheoretical metrics for evaluating scientific progress.
International Relations and Scientific Progress
Author: Patrick James
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 9780814209004
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
International Relations and Scientific Progress contends that a theory focusing on the structure of the international system explains a wider and more interesting range of events in world politics than other theories. Such theorizing appears to be out of favor as the result of the apparent failure by structural realism, the most prominent system-level theory over the last two decades, on any number of fronts--most notably an inability to anticipate the ending of the Cold War and its aftermath. This new book is put forward as the most comprehensive and innovative theoretical work on paradigms in international relations since the publication of Theory of International Politics, which created structural realism, more than two decades ago. With appropriate revisions, however, structural realist theory can compete effectively and reclaim its primacy. The first part of International Relations and Scientific Progress assesses the meaning of progress in the discipline of international relations, a process that culminates in the creation of a new concept, the scientific research enterprise. The second part reviews structural realism within that context and identifies a lack of connection between theory and research that links power-based indicators to international conflict, crisis, and war. This part of the book makes the case for an elaboration of structural realism by showing that a system-level theory based on structure has great unrealized explanatory potential. By comparison, the current overwhelmingly research oriented agenda on state dyads imposes severe limitations on understanding that are not currently appreciated. Part Three sums up the work and explores new directions, most notablyas related to empirical testing of an elaborated version of structural realism that focuses on both continuity and change in the international system.
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 9780814209004
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
International Relations and Scientific Progress contends that a theory focusing on the structure of the international system explains a wider and more interesting range of events in world politics than other theories. Such theorizing appears to be out of favor as the result of the apparent failure by structural realism, the most prominent system-level theory over the last two decades, on any number of fronts--most notably an inability to anticipate the ending of the Cold War and its aftermath. This new book is put forward as the most comprehensive and innovative theoretical work on paradigms in international relations since the publication of Theory of International Politics, which created structural realism, more than two decades ago. With appropriate revisions, however, structural realist theory can compete effectively and reclaim its primacy. The first part of International Relations and Scientific Progress assesses the meaning of progress in the discipline of international relations, a process that culminates in the creation of a new concept, the scientific research enterprise. The second part reviews structural realism within that context and identifies a lack of connection between theory and research that links power-based indicators to international conflict, crisis, and war. This part of the book makes the case for an elaboration of structural realism by showing that a system-level theory based on structure has great unrealized explanatory potential. By comparison, the current overwhelmingly research oriented agenda on state dyads imposes severe limitations on understanding that are not currently appreciated. Part Three sums up the work and explores new directions, most notablyas related to empirical testing of an elaborated version of structural realism that focuses on both continuity and change in the international system.
Bridges and Boundaries
Author: Colin Elman
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262550390
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
Bridges and Boundaries offers a conversation between what might loosely be described as traditionalist diplomatic and military historians, and political scientists who employ qualitative case study methods to examine international relations. The book opens with a series of chapters discussing differences, commonalities, and opportunities for cross-fertilization between the two disciplines.To help focus the dialogue on real events and research, the volume then revisits three empirical topics that have been studied at length by members of both disciplines: British hegemony in the nineteenth century; diplomacy in the interwar period and the causes of World War II; and the origins and course of the Cold War. For each of these subjects, a political scientist, a historian, and a commentator reflect on how disciplinary "guild rules" have shaped the study of international events. The book closes with incisive overviews by Robert Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder. Bridges and Boundaries explores how historians and political scientists can learn from one another and illustrates the possibilities that arise when open-minded scholars from different disciplines sit down to talk.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262550390
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
Bridges and Boundaries offers a conversation between what might loosely be described as traditionalist diplomatic and military historians, and political scientists who employ qualitative case study methods to examine international relations. The book opens with a series of chapters discussing differences, commonalities, and opportunities for cross-fertilization between the two disciplines.To help focus the dialogue on real events and research, the volume then revisits three empirical topics that have been studied at length by members of both disciplines: British hegemony in the nineteenth century; diplomacy in the interwar period and the causes of World War II; and the origins and course of the Cold War. For each of these subjects, a political scientist, a historian, and a commentator reflect on how disciplinary "guild rules" have shaped the study of international events. The book closes with incisive overviews by Robert Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder. Bridges and Boundaries explores how historians and political scientists can learn from one another and illustrates the possibilities that arise when open-minded scholars from different disciplines sit down to talk.
Problems of Stability and Progress in International Relations
Author: Quincy Wright
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520330994
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520330994
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.
The Psychology of Foreign Policy
Author: Christer Pursiainen
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030798879
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
This book focuses on foreign policy decision-making from the viewpoint of psychology. Psychology is always present in human decision-making, constituted by its structural determinants but also playing its own agency-level constitutive and causal roles, and therefore it should be taken into account in any analysis of foreign policy decisions. The book analyses a wide variety of prominent psychological approaches, such as bounded rationality, prospect theory, belief systems, cognitive biases, emotions, personality theories and trust to the study of foreign policy, identifying their achievements and added value as well as their limitations from a comparative perspective. Understanding how leaders in world politics act requires us to consider recent advances in neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. As a whole, the book aims at better integrating various psychological theories into the study of international relations and foreign policy analysis, as partial explanations themselves but also as facets of more comprehensive theories. It also discusses practical lessons that the psychological approaches offer since ignoring psychology can be costly: decision-makers need to be able reflect on their own decision-making process as well as the perspectives of the others. Paying attention to the psychological factors in international relations is necessary for better understanding the microfoundations upon which such agency is based.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030798879
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
This book focuses on foreign policy decision-making from the viewpoint of psychology. Psychology is always present in human decision-making, constituted by its structural determinants but also playing its own agency-level constitutive and causal roles, and therefore it should be taken into account in any analysis of foreign policy decisions. The book analyses a wide variety of prominent psychological approaches, such as bounded rationality, prospect theory, belief systems, cognitive biases, emotions, personality theories and trust to the study of foreign policy, identifying their achievements and added value as well as their limitations from a comparative perspective. Understanding how leaders in world politics act requires us to consider recent advances in neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. As a whole, the book aims at better integrating various psychological theories into the study of international relations and foreign policy analysis, as partial explanations themselves but also as facets of more comprehensive theories. It also discusses practical lessons that the psychological approaches offer since ignoring psychology can be costly: decision-makers need to be able reflect on their own decision-making process as well as the perspectives of the others. Paying attention to the psychological factors in international relations is necessary for better understanding the microfoundations upon which such agency is based.
Beyond the Veil of Knowledge
Author: Piki Ish-Shalom
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472124668
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
Is there a need to remodel constructivism to be more politically attuned? Author Piki Ish-Shalom calls for an activist academy that engages society and the polity to prevent the watering down of democracy, while helping to create a space for criticism. In this book, he suggests several concrete measures for this engagement within three spheres: individual theoretical work, the academic community as a whole, and within society and the polity. Beyond the Veil of Knowledge suggests that essentially contested concepts are a key medium that politicians use to try to minimize public resistance to their political goals. For constructivists, this means that the social construction of both social knowledge and the social world can be understood as the sociopolitical construction of knowledge and the sociopolitical world.
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472124668
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
Is there a need to remodel constructivism to be more politically attuned? Author Piki Ish-Shalom calls for an activist academy that engages society and the polity to prevent the watering down of democracy, while helping to create a space for criticism. In this book, he suggests several concrete measures for this engagement within three spheres: individual theoretical work, the academic community as a whole, and within society and the polity. Beyond the Veil of Knowledge suggests that essentially contested concepts are a key medium that politicians use to try to minimize public resistance to their political goals. For constructivists, this means that the social construction of both social knowledge and the social world can be understood as the sociopolitical construction of knowledge and the sociopolitical world.
Millennial Reflections on International Studies
Author: Michael Brecher
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472023942
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 714
Book Description
Forty-five prominent scholars engage in self-critical, state-of-the-art reflection on international studies to stimulate debates about successes and failures and to address the larger question of progress in the discipline. Written especially for the collection, these essays are in hardcover in the form of an easy-to-use handbook, and in paperback as a number of separate titles, each of which consists of a particular thematic cluster to merge with the range of topics taught in undergraduate and graduate courses in international studies. The themes addressed are realism, institutionalism, critical perspectives, feminist theory and gender studies, methodology (formal modeling, quantitative, and qualitative), foreign policy analysis, international security and peace studies, and international political economy. This collection provides an accessible and wide-ranging survey of the issues in the field as well as an invaluable bibliography, and will undoubtedly determine the shape of future research in international studies for the millennium. Paperbacks for course adoption: Realism and Institutionalism in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Conflict, Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy:Past Paths and Future Directions in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Evaluating Methodology in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Critical Perspectives in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Contributors are: Steve J. Brams, Davis B. Bobrow, Michael Cox, Robert W. Cox, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Joseph M. Grieco, Ernst B. Haas , Peter M. Haas, Kal J. Holsti, Ole R. Holsti, Patrick James, Robert O. Keohane, Edward A. Kolodziej, Louis Kriesberg Robert T. Kudrle, David A. Lake, Yosef Lapid, Russell Leng , Jack S. Levy, L. H. M. Ling, Zeev Maoz, Lisa L. Martin, John J. Mearsheimer, Manus I. Midlarsky, Linda B. Miller, Helen Milner , Michael Nicholson, Joseph Nye, V. Spike Peterson , Jan Jindy Pettman, James Lee Ray , James Rosenau, Harvey Starr, J. David Singer, Steve Smith, Christine Sylvester, J. Ann Tickner, John Vasquez, Yaacov Y. I. Vertzberger, R. B. J. Walker, Stephen G. Walker , Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Oran Young, Marysia Zalewski, and Dina A. Zinnes. Michael Brecher is R. B. Angus Professor of Political Science, McGill University, and former president of the International Studies Association. Frank P. Harvey is Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University.
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472023942
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 714
Book Description
Forty-five prominent scholars engage in self-critical, state-of-the-art reflection on international studies to stimulate debates about successes and failures and to address the larger question of progress in the discipline. Written especially for the collection, these essays are in hardcover in the form of an easy-to-use handbook, and in paperback as a number of separate titles, each of which consists of a particular thematic cluster to merge with the range of topics taught in undergraduate and graduate courses in international studies. The themes addressed are realism, institutionalism, critical perspectives, feminist theory and gender studies, methodology (formal modeling, quantitative, and qualitative), foreign policy analysis, international security and peace studies, and international political economy. This collection provides an accessible and wide-ranging survey of the issues in the field as well as an invaluable bibliography, and will undoubtedly determine the shape of future research in international studies for the millennium. Paperbacks for course adoption: Realism and Institutionalism in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Conflict, Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy:Past Paths and Future Directions in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Evaluating Methodology in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Critical Perspectives in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Contributors are: Steve J. Brams, Davis B. Bobrow, Michael Cox, Robert W. Cox, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Joseph M. Grieco, Ernst B. Haas , Peter M. Haas, Kal J. Holsti, Ole R. Holsti, Patrick James, Robert O. Keohane, Edward A. Kolodziej, Louis Kriesberg Robert T. Kudrle, David A. Lake, Yosef Lapid, Russell Leng , Jack S. Levy, L. H. M. Ling, Zeev Maoz, Lisa L. Martin, John J. Mearsheimer, Manus I. Midlarsky, Linda B. Miller, Helen Milner , Michael Nicholson, Joseph Nye, V. Spike Peterson , Jan Jindy Pettman, James Lee Ray , James Rosenau, Harvey Starr, J. David Singer, Steve Smith, Christine Sylvester, J. Ann Tickner, John Vasquez, Yaacov Y. I. Vertzberger, R. B. J. Walker, Stephen G. Walker , Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Oran Young, Marysia Zalewski, and Dina A. Zinnes. Michael Brecher is R. B. Angus Professor of Political Science, McGill University, and former president of the International Studies Association. Frank P. Harvey is Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University.
Theory and Evidence in Comparative Politics and International Relations
Author: R. Lebow
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230607500
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
This book explores the epistemology and the methodology of political knowledge and social inquiry: what can we know, and how do we know? Contributing authors offer answers, addressing the purpose and methods of research and analyzing concepts, including the relationship of theory and evidence and the importance of medicine to social science.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230607500
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
This book explores the epistemology and the methodology of political knowledge and social inquiry: what can we know, and how do we know? Contributing authors offer answers, addressing the purpose and methods of research and analyzing concepts, including the relationship of theory and evidence and the importance of medicine to social science.
Beliefs and Leadership in World Politics
Author: M. Schafer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403983496
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Focusing on how policy makers make decisions in foreign policy, this book examines how beliefs are causal mechanisms which steer decisions, shape leaders and perceptions of reality, and lead to cognitive and motivated biases that distort, block and recast incoming information from the environment.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403983496
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Focusing on how policy makers make decisions in foreign policy, this book examines how beliefs are causal mechanisms which steer decisions, shape leaders and perceptions of reality, and lead to cognitive and motivated biases that distort, block and recast incoming information from the environment.