Publications

After Eden: The Transformation of the Landscape of Political Power in the United States

24 February 2012

by Margaret Levi

A chapter in Anxieties of Democracy, edited by Ira Katznelson and Partha Chatterjee (Oxford University Press, 2012). This volume is a comparative study of democracy in India and the United States, using as its basis Alexis de Tocqueville's landmark study Democracy in America. Link to book details

0 Comments

In Search of Soft Power: Does Foreign Public Opinion Matter for U.S. Foreign Policy?

15 February 2012

Does “soft power” matter in international relations? Specifically, when the US seeks cooperation from countries around the world, do the views of their publics about US foreign policy affect the actual foreign policy behaviour of these countries? Benjamin E. Goldsmith (University of Sydney) and Yusaku Horiuchi (Australian National University) examine this question using multinational surveys covering 58 countries, combined with information about foreign policy decisions in 2003, a critical year for the US. Goldsmith and Horiuchi were able to complete this research with the assistance of a grant from the US Studies Centre. Read article

0 Comments

Evaluating civil development in counterinsurgency operations: the case for a field experiment in Afghanistan

3 February 2012

It is a widely held belief that civil development programs play a central role in any counterinsurgency campaign. It is assumed that civil development assistance is key to ‘winning the hearts and minds’ of the civilian population, which, in turn, is crucial for victory. However, there is currently little evidence to support this belief. This article by Dr Adam Lockyer begins by analysing the different methods that have been used in Afghanistan in order to evaluate the effectiveness of civil development programs since 2001. It finds that these methods have severe limitations. Indeed, based solely upon current methods of evaluation, we have no reliable evidence whether civil development programs are actively improving security, having no impact or making matters worse. As such, this article makes the case for a field experiment approach to be adopted in Afghanistan. It argues that field experiments are the most powerful methodology currently available to social scientists for making causal inferences and, by making minor changes to the way in which civil development is distributed, we can vastly improve our understanding of the relationship between aid and security. Read article

0 Comments