| EUROPEAN UNION RELATIONS | |||||
| Bachelor | TR-NQF-HE: Level 6 | QF-EHEA: First Cycle | EQF-LLL: Level 6 | ||
| Course Code | Course Name | Semester | Theoretical | Practical | Credit | ECTS |
| POL4428 | Public Opinion and Foreign Policy | Spring | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester. |
| Language of instruction: | English |
| Type of course: | Departmental Elective |
| Course Level: | Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle) |
| Mode of Delivery: | Hybrid |
| Course Coordinator : | Assoc. Prof. ESRA ALBAYRAKOĞLU |
| Course Lecturer(s): |
Prof. Dr. EBRU ŞULE CANAN SOKULLU |
| Recommended Optional Program Components: | None. |
| Course Objectives: | In democracies, the making of strategic commitments to foreign policy choices requires strong popular backing. The conventional wisdom suggests that maintaining public support is a compulsion in modern democracies because it serves as an indicator of people’s interests and desires that decision-makers inevitably must take into account. According to the central strand of democratic theory, policy preferences of citizens are supposed to form the foundation for government’s decision-making. It aims to provide them with the background knowledge and theoretical and practical skills needed to study and understand public opinion and post-Cold War era foreign policy connexion. Given the theoretical and practical importance of studying public opinion in democratic systems, students learn the logic of inquiry on public opinion and foreign policy, including case-specific analyses. The main focus is on war and public opinion. |
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The students who have succeeded in this course; The students who have succeeded in this course; 1) Grasp basic theoretical and conceptual knowledge about public opinion, its nature and impacts. 2) Gain a basic knowledge of “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences” (SPSS) program for social scientific data analysis. 3) Possess knowledge about quantitative analysis. 4) Develop skill and knowledge to prepare a survey and report. 5) Interpret the public opinion reports and surveys. 6) Develop competencies with respect to active inquiry and critical thinking. |
| This course provides the background knowledge and theoretical and practical skills needed to study and understand public opinion and post-Cold War era foreign policy connexion. Students learn the logic of inquiry on public opinion and foreign policy, including case-specific analyses. |
| Week | Subject | Related Preparation |
| 1) | Introduction to and overview of the Course | |
| 2) | What is “public opinion”? History of public opinion | • Glynn et al (1999) ‘The meanings of public opinion’ Ch. 1 • Shiraev and Sobel (2007) “What is Public opinion?” pp: 2-6 • Glynn et al (1999) ‘The history of public opinion’ Ch. 2 |
| 3) | Methods of public opinion | • Glynn et al (1999) ‘Methods for studying public opinion’ Ch. 3 • Shiraev and Sobel (2007) “Measurement of Opinion” pp: 20 – 43 TO DO: Create thematic working groups: EU-immigration-Transatlantic relations-War (Syria)-Hard security-Soft security-media and information-environment- Russia-energy Students: Assignment 1. • Pick an article relevant to topic and learn about the methodology and content. • Following this, do a search from Pew, TTS, Gallup, Eurobarometer about the theme selected by your group. • Question and answer wording, polling organization information (20 questions each group on the themes assigned) Deadline Week 4 (Times New Roman 12, Student and Group name written). |
| 4) | Public opinion and foreign policy | • Holsti (1996) Ch 1 • Mueller, J. (1996) ‘Fifteen Propositions about American Foreign policy and public opinion in an era free of compelling threats’ National Convention of the International Studies Association, San Diego, California, April 16-20, 1996 • Philip J. Powlick; Andrew Z. Katz (1998) ‘Defining the American Public Opinion/Foreign Policy Nexus’ Mershon International Studies Review, Vol. 42, No. 1. (May, 1998), pp. 29-61. • Hinckley, R. H. (1988) ‘Public Attitudes toward Key Foreign Policy Events’ Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 32: 295-318. ECS: Each group will be distributed an article on the topic/theme selected. Particularly “literature review” and “method (“research design”) sections should be studied. Questionnaire Draft – 1 |
| 5) | Theories of public opinion and foreign policy (a) Classical traditionalist approaches to public opinion and foreign policy | • Holsti (1996) Ch. 2 • Caspary, W. R. (1970) ‘The Mood Theory: A Study of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy’ American Political Science Review Vol. 64 (2) (June): 536-547 Questionnaire -2 Finalization of questionnaire Pilot study: Week 5 |
| 6) | Theories of public opinion and foreign policy (b) Revisionist liberal approaches to public opinion and foreign policy | • Holsti (1996) Ch 3 • Holsti, O. R. (1992) ‘Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus Mershon Series: Research Programs and Debates’ International Studies Quarterly Vol. 36: 439-466. • Nincic, M. (1992a) ‘A Sensible Public: New Perspectives on Popular Opinion and Foreign Policy’ Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 36 (4): 772-789. ECS: Training of the students about technical matters. Students: Discussion Each group will discuss their pilot study in the class |
| 7) | Midterm | |
| 8) | Introduction to SPSS | FIELDWORK After finalizing the questionnaire each groups and members will go to the field to run the survey! |
| 9) | SPSS -Public Opinion - Media - Foreign Policy Nexus | • Soroka, S. (2003) ‘Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy, Press and Politics, Vol. 8 (1) (Winter): 27-48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3K9hOxYpA Coding • Students: Collection of surveys, data entry under the supervision of the instructor. • Students: Each group should be responsible of data cleaning |
| 10) | Completion of dataset & Analysis of data (descriptive and correlation) | Public Opinion - Political Elite - Foreign Policy Nexus • Shiraev and Sobel (2007) “Government: Does Public opinion Matter?” pp: 12-18 |
| 11) | Review of reports and group presentation of analysis | Students: Each student should analyze the dataset (together with other group members). Instructions will be distributed by the lecturer. (these analysis will be used for the final reports which will be prepared by groups and presented in Week 12-13). |
| 12) | Review of reports and group presentation of analysis | Students: Each student should analyze the dataset (together with other group members). Instructions will be distributed by the lecturer. (these analysis will be used for the final reports which will be prepared by groups and presented in Week 12-13). |
| 13) | Review of reports and group presentation of analysis | Students: Each student should analyze the dataset (together with other group members). Instructions will be distributed by the lecturer. (these analysis will be used for the final reports which will be prepared by groups and presented in Week 12-13). |
| 14) | Review |
| Course Notes / Textbooks: | •Holsti, O. R. (1996) Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy Ann Arbour: University of Michigan Press. •Everts, P. and P. Isernia (eds) (2001) Public Opinion and International Use of Force London: Routledge. •Glynn, C. J., S. Herbst, G. J. O’Keefe and R. Y. Shapiro (1999) Public Opinion Boulder, CO: Westview Press. •Canan-Sokullu, Ebru Transatlantic Public Opinion on War Saarbrücken: Lambert (2014) •Lacos, B., R.Y. Shapiro and P. Isernia (eds.) (2000) Decision-making in a Glass House: Mass Media, Public Opinion, and American and European Foreign Policy in the 21st Century Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. •Shiraev, E. and R. Sobel (2007) People and Their Opinions: Thinking Critically about Public Opinion N.Y.: Pearson |
| References: | Articles in Course Package and other online resources related to topics covered. |
| Semester Requirements | Number of Activities | Level of Contribution |
| Presentation | 1 | % 30 |
| Midterms | 1 | % 30 |
| Final | 1 | % 40 |
| Total | % 100 | |
| PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK | % 60 | |
| PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK | % 40 | |
| Total | % 100 | |
| Activities | Number of Activities | Workload |
| Course Hours | 13 | 39 |
| Application | 3 | 15 |
| Study Hours Out of Class | 12 | 91.5 |
| Presentations / Seminar | 1 | 0.5 |
| Midterms | 1 | 2 |
| Final | 1 | 2 |
| Total Workload | 150 | |
| No Effect | 1 Lowest | 2 Low | 3 Average | 4 High | 5 Highest |
| Program Outcomes | Level of Contribution | |
| 1) | To be able to examine, interpret data and assess ideas with the scientific methods in the area of EU studies. | 3 |
| 2) | To be able to inform authorities and institutions in the area of EU studies, to be able to transfer ideas and proposals supported by quantitative and qualitative data about the problems. | 3 |
| 3) | To be introduced to and to get involved in other disciplines that EU studies are strongly related with (political science, international relations, law, economics, sociology, etc.) and to be able to conduct multi-disciplinary research and analysis on European politics. | 3 |
| 4) | To be able to evaluate current news on European Union and Turkey-EU relations and identify, analyze current issues relating to the EU’s politics and policies. | 3 |
| 5) | To be able to use English in written and oral communication in general and in the field of EU studies in particular. | 3 |
| 6) | To have ethical, social and scientific values throughout the processes of collecting, interpreting, disseminating and implementing data related to EU studies. | 3 |
| 7) | To be able to assess the historical development, functioning of the institutions and decision-making system and common policies of the European Union throughout its economic and political integration in a supranational framework. | 3 |
| 8) | To be able to evaluate the current legal, financial and institutional changes that the EU is going through. | 3 |
| 9) | To explain the dynamics of enlargement processes of the EU by identifying the main actors and institutions involved and compare previous enlargement processes and accession process of Turkey. | 3 |
| 10) | To be able to analyze the influence of the EU on political, social and economic system of Turkey. | 3 |
| 11) | To acquire insight in EU project culture and to build up project preparation skills in line with EU format and develop the ability to work in groups and cooperate with peers. | 3 |
| 12) | To be able to recognize theories and concepts used by the discipline of international relations and relate them to the historical development of the EU as a unique post-War political project. | 3 |