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Middle Powers of the Western Pacific, Intra-Elite Discourse, and States' Perceptions.

Record Type:	Language materials, manuscript : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Middle Powers of the Western Pacific, Intra-Elite Discourse, and States' Perceptions./
Author:	Chiarella, Jonathan Joseph.
Description:	1 online resource (246 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-04, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International85-04A.
Subject:	Political science. -
Online resource:	click for full text (PQDT)
ISBN:	9798380606325

Middle Powers of the Western Pacific, Intra-Elite Discourse, and States' Perceptions.
Chiarella, Jonathan Joseph.

Middle Powers of the Western Pacific, Intra-Elite Discourse, and States' Perceptions. - 1 online resource (246 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-04, Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 2023.

Includes bibliographical references

Because the states of the world do not simply act based on geopolitical factors, state-specific factors must explain the variation, so argue neo-classical realists and several realist-constructivists. The first filter between the international environment and states is the perceptions that state leaders hold. Further, the opinions of experts at universities and research centers have more prestige and because public opinion has little causal effect on foreign policy choices. This study seeks to test if shifts in the academic discourse by domestic intellectuals can be used to approximate a state's changing perceptions, and thus its policy. This would build generalizable theory.The states of a middling ranking of power exhibit distinct diversity and unpredictability in behavior. For a superpower, most actions derive from the momentum of being a hegemon, are part of the responsibilities and reputational liabilities with being the leader of some international order, or are in response to inevitable rivalries with peers. States below this level, however, can shift allegiances or stay out of the main rivalries, while possessing capabilities that minimal states lack. Middle powers, therefore, seem the most amenable to be swayed by ideational factors.This study tested this premise in a relevant theater of the US-PRC rivalry, comparing elite, non-partisan discourse in leading journals and think tanks of three Western Pacific states--Japan, the ROK, and Australia--against cost-bearing pivotal policy decisions from 2007 to 2021. The hypothesis would predict that shifts in expert opinion would precede shifts in state policy.Middle powers do have a distinct level of flexibility, but the lack of a clear causal relationship between elites' perceptions and leaders' decisions indicates three things. (1) If elite discourse holds little sway over ministers in these countries, the discourse in great powers sways even less. (2) Some other variables or a more complex interaction link perceptions to state action. (3) This is a failed hoop test for an assumption in constructivist thinking. In the future, this study recommends employing "thick'" case studies to tie policy decisions to specific experts or advisors. Accuracy trumps the ease of theory.

Electronic reproduction.
Ann Arbor, Mich. :
ProQuest,
2024

Mode of access: World Wide Web

ISBN: 9798380606325Subjects--Topical Terms:

558774
Political science.
Subjects--Index Terms:

ConstructivismIndex Terms--Genre/Form:

554714
Electronic books.

Middle Powers of the Western Pacific, Intra-Elite Discourse, and States' Perceptions.
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520 $a Because the states of the world do not simply act based on geopolitical factors, state-specific factors must explain the variation, so argue neo-classical realists and several realist-constructivists. The first filter between the international environment and states is the perceptions that state leaders hold. Further, the opinions of experts at universities and research centers have more prestige and because public opinion has little causal effect on foreign policy choices. This study seeks to test if shifts in the academic discourse by domestic intellectuals can be used to approximate a state's changing perceptions, and thus its policy. This would build generalizable theory.The states of a middling ranking of power exhibit distinct diversity and unpredictability in behavior. For a superpower, most actions derive from the momentum of being a hegemon, are part of the responsibilities and reputational liabilities with being the leader of some international order, or are in response to inevitable rivalries with peers. States below this level, however, can shift allegiances or stay out of the main rivalries, while possessing capabilities that minimal states lack. Middle powers, therefore, seem the most amenable to be swayed by ideational factors.This study tested this premise in a relevant theater of the US-PRC rivalry, comparing elite, non-partisan discourse in leading journals and think tanks of three Western Pacific states--Japan, the ROK, and Australia--against cost-bearing pivotal policy decisions from 2007 to 2021. The hypothesis would predict that shifts in expert opinion would precede shifts in state policy.Middle powers do have a distinct level of flexibility, but the lack of a clear causal relationship between elites' perceptions and leaders' decisions indicates three things. (1) If elite discourse holds little sway over ministers in these countries, the discourse in great powers sways even less. (2) Some other variables or a more complex interaction link perceptions to state action. (3) This is a failed hoop test for an assumption in constructivist thinking. In the future, this study recommends employing "thick'" case studies to tie policy decisions to specific experts or advisors. Accuracy trumps the ease of theory.
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