Postgraduate Course: Foreign Policy (MPP) (PGSP11382)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 15 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course covers concepts, analytical tools, and existing research on foreign policy. The course is designed to help students better answer the broad question: Why do states do what they do in international politics?
The course is organized in a basic "levels of analysis" framework - from outside, external approaches associated with general international relations theories, to societal sources of culture and public opinion, to government organization and elite decision-making. The emphasis in the course is on theories and concepts for the study of foreign policy, but students will also be exposed to the substance/content of the foreign policies of various countries. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 25 |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
150
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 30,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
117 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Students should gain:
1. a balanced and comprehensive appreciation of the study of foreign policy;
2. an analytical foundation with which to understand and explain the substance and process of foreign policy making across many states and in comparative perspective;
3. an introduction to epistemological, ontological and methodological issues in the study of foreign policy; and
4. an appreciation of the relationship between foreign policy analysis and the study of international relations, politics, and public policy more generally.
2. Students will be required to:
1. undertake critical, objective analysis of conceptual approaches to foreign policy analysis;
2. critically assess methodological techniques and research design used in the empirical study of foreign policy;
3. apply competing conceptual frameworks to understand important foreign policy choices made by actors in international politics; and
4. practice skills important in academic and non-academic careers, including the evaluation of scholarly work and policy positions, construction of analytical questions, team-work in a group-based project, and verbal and written articulation of substance and analysis. |
Assessment Information
60% - case study analysis (2000 words)
30% - group country foreign policy profile
10% - participation and attendance |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The course will cover multiple topics in foreign policy including, but not limited to -
alliances and threats - the foreign policy of small states - the role of culture and identity in foreign policy - the role of public opinion and the media in foreign policy - interest groups and domestic political opposition - the role of personality, beliefs and information processing - and bureaucratic politics and the dynamics of small groups. |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Indicative readings include:
Hudson, Valerie (2005) "Foreign Policy Analysis: Actor-Specific Theory and the Ground of International Relations". Foreign Policy Analysis 1: 1-30.
Putnam, R. D. (1988) Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: the Logic of Two-Level Games. International Organization 42: 427-460.
Miyashita, Akitoshi (1999) ¿Gaiatsu and Japan¿s Foreign Aid: Rethinking the Reactive¿Proactive Debate,¿ International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 43 (December 1999), pp. 695-732.
Duffield, John (1992) ¿International Regimes and Alliance Behavior: Explaining NATO Force Levels¿ International Organization 46: 819-855.
Panke, Diana (2012) ¿Dwarfs in International Negotiations: How Small States Make Their Voices Heard,¿ Cambridge Review of International Affairs 25(3): 313328.
S. Nasra (2011) ¿Governance in EU Foreign Policy: Exploring Small State Influence¿ Journal of European Public Policy 18(2):164-180.
Hudson, Valerie M. (ed) (1997) ¿Culture and Foreign Policy: Developing a Research Agenda¿ in Hudson (ed) Culture and Foreign Policy. Lynne Rienner.
Ashizawa, Kuniko (2008) ¿When Identity Matters: State Identity, Regional Institution-Building, and Japanese Foreign Policy,¿ International Studies Review September.
Holsti, Ole (2002) ¿Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Analysis,¿ in M. Brecher and F. Harvey (Eds.) Millenial Reflections on International Studies (Michigan University Press), pp. 514-528.
Sean D. Ehrlich, ¿The Tariff and the Lobbyist: Political Institutions, Interest Group Politics, and U.S. Trade Policy,¿ International Studies Quarterly June 2008.
Kille, Kent J. and Roger M. Scully (2003). ¿Executive Heads and the Role of Intergovernmental Organizations: Expansionist Leadership in the United Nations and the European Union.¿ Political Psychology 24: 175-198.
Kaarbo, Juliet (1997) "Prime Minister Leadership Styles in Foreign Policy Decision-Making: A Framework for Research", Political Psychology, Volume 18: 553-581.
¿t Hart, Paul, Eric Stern, and Bengt Sundelius (1997) ¿Foreign Policy-making at the Top: Political Group Dynamics¿ in ¿t Hart, Stern, and Sundelius (eds.) Beyond Groupthink. Michigan Press.
Bursens, Peter and Jana Deforche (2010) ¿Going Beyond Paradiplomacy? Adding Historical Institutionalism to Account for Regional Foreign Policy Competences,¿ The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 5: 151-171
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Foreign policy; public policy; decision making |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Juliet Kaarbo
Tel: (0131 6)50 4252
Email: jkaarbo@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lindsay Adams
Tel: (0131 6)50 3315
Email: Lindsay.Adams@ed.ac.uk |
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