POL4428 Public Opinion and Foreign PolicyBahçeşehir UniversityDegree Programs SOCIOLOGYGeneral Information For StudentsDiploma SupplementErasmus Policy StatementNational QualificationsBologna Commission
SOCIOLOGY
Bachelor TR-NQF-HE: Level 6 QF-EHEA: First Cycle EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code Course Name Semester Theoretical Practical Credit ECTS
POL4428 Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Fall 3 0 3 6
This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester.

Basic information

Language of instruction: English
Type of course: Non-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.

Learning Outcomes

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.

Course Content

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.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

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

Sources

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.

Evaluation System

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

ECTS / Workload Table

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

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect 1 Lowest 2 Low 3 Average 4 High 5 Highest
           
Program Outcomes Level of Contribution
1) To learn and compare major sociology perspectives, both classical and contemporary, and apply all of them to analysis of social conditions.
2) To be able to identify the basic methodological approaches in building sociological and anthropological knowledge at local and global levels
3) To be able to use theoretical and applied knowledge acquired in the fields of statistics in social sciences.
4) To have a basic knowledge of other disciplines (including psychology, history, political science, communication studies and literature) that can contribute to sociology and to be able to make use of this knowledge in analyzing sociological processes
5) To have a knowledge and practice of scientific and ethical principles in collecting, interpreting and publishing sociological data also develop ability how to share this data with experts and lay people, using effective communication skills
6) To develop competence in analyzing and publishing sociological knowledge by using computer software for quantitative and qualitative analysis; and develop an attitute for learning new techniques in these fields.
7) To identify and to have a knowledge of the theories related to urban and rural sociology and demography, and political sociology, sociology of gender, sociology of body, visual sociology, sociology of work, sociology of religion, sociology of knowledge and sociology of crime.
8) To have knowledge of how sociology is positioned as a scientific discipline from a philosophical and historical perspective
9) To have the awareness of social issues in Turkish society, to develop critical perspective in analysing these issues and to have a knowledge of the works of Turkish sociologists and to be able to transfer this knowledge
10) To have the awareness of social issues and global societal processes and to apply sociological analysis to development and social responsibility projects
11) To have the ability to define a research question, design a research project and complete a written report for various fields of sociology, either as an individual or as a team member.
12) To be able to transfer the knowledge gained in the areas of sociology to the level of secondary school.