Steven B Rothman | Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (original) (raw)
Papers by Steven B Rothman
The nuclear incident at Fukushima is an important media focusing event that drew attention from t... more The nuclear incident at Fukushima is an important media focusing event that drew attention from the Japanese public, government officials around the world, and private organizations. Since focusing events and frames influence policy decisions, this research examines the rhetoric associated with the incident, and compares the rhetoric presented across media sources from Japan, the US, and Europe for the two-week period following the initial tsunami. The content analysis demonstrates that a single focusing event maintains several frames for different actors. The paper illustrates the different immediate frames after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in regard to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In particular, the research shows the differences in frame presentations between the European news outlets, the US, and Japan. These differences parallel subsequent policy choices made within these regions toward nuclear power. Keywords: comparative policy, focusing events, framing, Fukushima, media
This study conducted experiments using clickers and Twitter in international relations courses to... more This study conducted experiments using clickers and Twitter in international relations courses to evaluate the effectiveness of audience-response tools on students’ experiences and their performance. The study used both within-group and between-group experimental designs and evaluated the results primarily through inferential descriptive statistical methods. The results show that clickers outperformed Twitter, students enjoy using clickers in class, and the use of these tools had little impact on grade performance.
International Studies Perspectives 13(4), 437-457
The essay describes new way to evaluate variation among simulations through six distinct categori... more The essay describes new way to evaluate variation among simulations through six distinct categories. The six points involve the content of the simulation, the integration of the simulation with other aspects of the course, the length of a simulation, the strictness of rules, the interaction among students during the simulation, and assessment techniques. The essay assesses the benefits and costs of the simulation and course design through student feedback and instructor evaluation. In addition, the essay uses these six points of variation as a framework to explain a sample simulation integrated with course objectives, goals, lecture material, two short research essays, and other class activities designed to teach game theory applied to current international problems. The simulation uses current world issues to help students incorporate class content, game theoretic modeling, and strategic interaction into an international negotiation conducted in class.
This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories o... more This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories of war involving the democratic process, the domestic and government interests, and prospect theory. The project demonstrates the limits of psychological variables to analyze or explain international decisions due to the political complexity and domestic and global context of decision-making. In particular, the project uses economic framing to proxy a gains domain and security frames to proxy the losses domain. Risk sensitivities and preference ordering of the domestic interests (military and common business persons) are consistent with prospect theory, while the political connections between domestic constituents and decision-makers provide an intervening influence on the decision for war. The result suggests careful use of prospect theory and the importance of factors in addition to psychological ones when applied to international politics.
The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed... more The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed in international relations literature and policy, yet soft power has not been fully utilized because of under‐specified tools and mechanisms by which soft power influences international actors. This article revises the concept of soft power by generating a continuum of power based on the tools useful for implementing different degrees of soft or hard power. In addition, the article describes two mechanisms through which soft power influences international actors, beginning the call for exploration of other such mechanisms. Reconceptualizing soft power in terms of objects that are controlled and utilized by policy‐makers, such as agenda‐setting and framing, provides us with more useful analytical variables to understand international relations and to provide policy recommendations.
Graduate students suffer from many pressures when writing a dissertation. Deadlines loom, jobs ar... more Graduate students suffer from many pressures when writing a dissertation. Deadlines loom, jobs are highly competitive, publishing is always a bonus, and these are often combined with outside research, teaching fellowships, or other occupations. In order to finish a quality dissertation without too much wasted time or effort it is useful for students to begin early and to think hard about their projects in a variety of ways. Students may have a broad conceptual interest or field interest without a focused and tractable project. In addition to the normal practice of discussing potential projects with advisors and mentors, there are several ways to evaluate potential projects that may be overlooked. This essay helps bring a good dissertation project to the front of several potential ideas a student might have by describing several characteristics for comparison across topics. In addition, this essay provides a rubric by which students can develop and discuss a project with faculty and colleagues. Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of preparing a dissertation project is to discuss that project with faculty mentors and potential committee members (Banesh 2001). Between these discussions, or before the first discussion of potential projects, students can spend considerable time thinking about various ideas for their thesis or dissertation. Students approaching their project systematically may have many projects they are considering and wish to narrow down those projects to a manageable few before discussing them with advisors. As a first time dissertation writer, however, most graduate students are unaware of criteria that can be used to evaluate and compare their ideas objectively so they can compare several project ideas and narrow down the field. The criteria described here combine and extend other criteria previously developed, such as developing questions that are important in the real world and those that contribute to scholarly literature (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994). The criteria described below were developed specifically for dissertation projects, but are also very useful for students writing theses for other purposes such as undergraduate senior projects. The guide provided here should enable students to compare several potential ideas objectively to begin to find a viable project. Although the initial development of a thesis project based on a student's theoretical or empirical interests is mostly idiosyncratic and personal (See King, Keohane, and Verba 1994; Van Evera 1997), once a student's interests emerge there are some common ways to objectively evaluate several dissertation projects. This essay helps students develop several ways to think about their dissertation projects and create a rubric so that several projects can be evaluated on comparable terms. a
Although recent data creation efforts in international relations have begun to focus on issues of... more Although recent data creation efforts in international relations have begun to focus on issues of reliability and validity more explicitly than previously, current efforts still contain significant problems. This essay focuses on three recent data generation projects that study international relations (the ICOW, ATOP, and River Treaty datasets) and shows the successes and failures of each in assessing reliability when generating data from qualitative evidence. All three datasets attempt to generate reliable data, document the procedures used, and present indications of data reliability. However, their efforts face problems when assessing the reliability of their case selection variables, in the development of reliability indicators, and in the presentation of reliability statistics. In addition to evaluating these recent efforts to generate large-N databases, this essay clarifies the difference between generating data from qualitative and quantitative evidence, explains the importance of reliability when coding qualitative evidence, and provides ways to improve the assessment of the quality of one’s data.
Annual Meeting of the American …, Jan 1, 2006
Various researchers have created large datasets of variables related to war, economic sanctions, ... more Various researchers have created large datasets of variables related to war, economic sanctions, human rights, and comparative political institutions. The value of these datasets in fostering research progress in international relations depends on their providing high-quality quantitative data on fundamentally qualitative variables. Developing such large-N datasets that accurately capture variables not easily quantified requires careful attention to a range of factors involving measurement theory, particularly construct validity and reliability, and management of a research team. The paper argues that good dataset creation should develop variables and values that reflect both conceptually useful categories and accurately capture empirical variation, define the population of cases and identify members of that population, and systematically collect evidence on those cases. Coding manuals should have clear, complete, explicit, and well-documented coding rules and procedures. Training and coding should be conducted in ways that mitigate the introduction of error into the dataset. All dataset creation procedures should be carefully documented and made transparent to users, with special attention paid to providing users with evidence regarding dataset reliability and dataset construct validity.
![Research paper thumbnail of [Book Review] Unveiling the whale: discourses on whales and whaling (2009) by Anne Kalland.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/52893410/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](No Abstract is Available. In lieu of an abstract, the publisher provides an article preview: Ind... more No Abstract is Available. In lieu of an abstract, the publisher provides an article preview:
Individuals often interpret information in ways that conform to their own worldviews rather than challenging dominant beliefs. In a world of pro-environmental discourse many students of environmental politics will ignore opposing views. Unveiling the Whale: Discourses on Whales and Whaling extensively documents all of the actors involved in modern whaling, both pro- and anti-, and their interests and actions, in an effort to expose multiple worldviews simultaneously. Kalland presents each side's views on whaling and the rhetorical and symbolic methods that altered the discourse about whaling. The book first discusses the anti-whaling symbols and rhetoric that forms the current dominant discourse. This dominant discourse is then juxtaposed against the alternative (pro-whaling) discourse, while concurrently arguing that subjugation, discrimination, and hypocrisy are present in discourse and policies adopted by governments and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Synopsis: Oil exporting countries have a strong incentive to produce oil for as long as possible ... more Synopsis:
Oil exporting countries have a strong incentive to produce oil for as long as possible and to maintain the illusion that their oil supplies are endless.
Books by Steven B Rothman
This volume discusses the relationship between economics, geopolitics and regional institutional ... more This volume discusses the relationship between economics, geopolitics and regional institutional growth and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
How do states (re)define their relationships amid the current global power transition? How do rival actors influence the rules and formation of new institutions for their own benefit? What role will institutions take as independent actors in influencing and constraining the behavior of states? Institutional development in Asia is characterized by idiosyncratic and diverse motivations (both material and non-material), a variety of policy strategies (strategic and norm-based), and the looming question of China’s future depth of involvement as its economic position becomes more stable and its confidence in foreign affairs grows. The book reflects the broadening definition of Asia by examining multiple perspectives, including Japan, China, South Korea, the United States, Australia, India, Russia, and Taiwan. In addition to state actors, the contributors address several important regional institutions in development such as the ASEAN (+3, +6, and the East Asian Summit), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), existing security alliances, and other bilateral institutions. Ultimately, this volume describes the unique, slow, and diverse growth of a multitude of regional institutions, the complexities of generating cooperation, membership concerns, and competition between states and with existing institutions in the context of China’s increasing confidence and strength.
This book will be of much interest to students of Asian politics, regional security, international organizations, and foreign policy.
The nuclear incident at Fukushima is an important media focusing event that drew attention from t... more The nuclear incident at Fukushima is an important media focusing event that drew attention from the Japanese public, government officials around the world, and private organizations. Since focusing events and frames influence policy decisions, this research examines the rhetoric associated with the incident, and compares the rhetoric presented across media sources from Japan, the US, and Europe for the two-week period following the initial tsunami. The content analysis demonstrates that a single focusing event maintains several frames for different actors. The paper illustrates the different immediate frames after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in regard to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In particular, the research shows the differences in frame presentations between the European news outlets, the US, and Japan. These differences parallel subsequent policy choices made within these regions toward nuclear power. Keywords: comparative policy, focusing events, framing, Fukushima, media
This study conducted experiments using clickers and Twitter in international relations courses to... more This study conducted experiments using clickers and Twitter in international relations courses to evaluate the effectiveness of audience-response tools on students’ experiences and their performance. The study used both within-group and between-group experimental designs and evaluated the results primarily through inferential descriptive statistical methods. The results show that clickers outperformed Twitter, students enjoy using clickers in class, and the use of these tools had little impact on grade performance.
International Studies Perspectives 13(4), 437-457
The essay describes new way to evaluate variation among simulations through six distinct categori... more The essay describes new way to evaluate variation among simulations through six distinct categories. The six points involve the content of the simulation, the integration of the simulation with other aspects of the course, the length of a simulation, the strictness of rules, the interaction among students during the simulation, and assessment techniques. The essay assesses the benefits and costs of the simulation and course design through student feedback and instructor evaluation. In addition, the essay uses these six points of variation as a framework to explain a sample simulation integrated with course objectives, goals, lecture material, two short research essays, and other class activities designed to teach game theory applied to current international problems. The simulation uses current world issues to help students incorporate class content, game theoretic modeling, and strategic interaction into an international negotiation conducted in class.
This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories o... more This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories of war involving the democratic process, the domestic and government interests, and prospect theory. The project demonstrates the limits of psychological variables to analyze or explain international decisions due to the political complexity and domestic and global context of decision-making. In particular, the project uses economic framing to proxy a gains domain and security frames to proxy the losses domain. Risk sensitivities and preference ordering of the domestic interests (military and common business persons) are consistent with prospect theory, while the political connections between domestic constituents and decision-makers provide an intervening influence on the decision for war. The result suggests careful use of prospect theory and the importance of factors in addition to psychological ones when applied to international politics.
The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed... more The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed in international relations literature and policy, yet soft power has not been fully utilized because of under‐specified tools and mechanisms by which soft power influences international actors. This article revises the concept of soft power by generating a continuum of power based on the tools useful for implementing different degrees of soft or hard power. In addition, the article describes two mechanisms through which soft power influences international actors, beginning the call for exploration of other such mechanisms. Reconceptualizing soft power in terms of objects that are controlled and utilized by policy‐makers, such as agenda‐setting and framing, provides us with more useful analytical variables to understand international relations and to provide policy recommendations.
Graduate students suffer from many pressures when writing a dissertation. Deadlines loom, jobs ar... more Graduate students suffer from many pressures when writing a dissertation. Deadlines loom, jobs are highly competitive, publishing is always a bonus, and these are often combined with outside research, teaching fellowships, or other occupations. In order to finish a quality dissertation without too much wasted time or effort it is useful for students to begin early and to think hard about their projects in a variety of ways. Students may have a broad conceptual interest or field interest without a focused and tractable project. In addition to the normal practice of discussing potential projects with advisors and mentors, there are several ways to evaluate potential projects that may be overlooked. This essay helps bring a good dissertation project to the front of several potential ideas a student might have by describing several characteristics for comparison across topics. In addition, this essay provides a rubric by which students can develop and discuss a project with faculty and colleagues. Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of preparing a dissertation project is to discuss that project with faculty mentors and potential committee members (Banesh 2001). Between these discussions, or before the first discussion of potential projects, students can spend considerable time thinking about various ideas for their thesis or dissertation. Students approaching their project systematically may have many projects they are considering and wish to narrow down those projects to a manageable few before discussing them with advisors. As a first time dissertation writer, however, most graduate students are unaware of criteria that can be used to evaluate and compare their ideas objectively so they can compare several project ideas and narrow down the field. The criteria described here combine and extend other criteria previously developed, such as developing questions that are important in the real world and those that contribute to scholarly literature (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994). The criteria described below were developed specifically for dissertation projects, but are also very useful for students writing theses for other purposes such as undergraduate senior projects. The guide provided here should enable students to compare several potential ideas objectively to begin to find a viable project. Although the initial development of a thesis project based on a student's theoretical or empirical interests is mostly idiosyncratic and personal (See King, Keohane, and Verba 1994; Van Evera 1997), once a student's interests emerge there are some common ways to objectively evaluate several dissertation projects. This essay helps students develop several ways to think about their dissertation projects and create a rubric so that several projects can be evaluated on comparable terms. a
Although recent data creation efforts in international relations have begun to focus on issues of... more Although recent data creation efforts in international relations have begun to focus on issues of reliability and validity more explicitly than previously, current efforts still contain significant problems. This essay focuses on three recent data generation projects that study international relations (the ICOW, ATOP, and River Treaty datasets) and shows the successes and failures of each in assessing reliability when generating data from qualitative evidence. All three datasets attempt to generate reliable data, document the procedures used, and present indications of data reliability. However, their efforts face problems when assessing the reliability of their case selection variables, in the development of reliability indicators, and in the presentation of reliability statistics. In addition to evaluating these recent efforts to generate large-N databases, this essay clarifies the difference between generating data from qualitative and quantitative evidence, explains the importance of reliability when coding qualitative evidence, and provides ways to improve the assessment of the quality of one’s data.
Annual Meeting of the American …, Jan 1, 2006
Various researchers have created large datasets of variables related to war, economic sanctions, ... more Various researchers have created large datasets of variables related to war, economic sanctions, human rights, and comparative political institutions. The value of these datasets in fostering research progress in international relations depends on their providing high-quality quantitative data on fundamentally qualitative variables. Developing such large-N datasets that accurately capture variables not easily quantified requires careful attention to a range of factors involving measurement theory, particularly construct validity and reliability, and management of a research team. The paper argues that good dataset creation should develop variables and values that reflect both conceptually useful categories and accurately capture empirical variation, define the population of cases and identify members of that population, and systematically collect evidence on those cases. Coding manuals should have clear, complete, explicit, and well-documented coding rules and procedures. Training and coding should be conducted in ways that mitigate the introduction of error into the dataset. All dataset creation procedures should be carefully documented and made transparent to users, with special attention paid to providing users with evidence regarding dataset reliability and dataset construct validity.
No Abstract is Available. In lieu of an abstract, the publisher provides an article preview: Ind... more No Abstract is Available. In lieu of an abstract, the publisher provides an article preview:
Individuals often interpret information in ways that conform to their own worldviews rather than challenging dominant beliefs. In a world of pro-environmental discourse many students of environmental politics will ignore opposing views. Unveiling the Whale: Discourses on Whales and Whaling extensively documents all of the actors involved in modern whaling, both pro- and anti-, and their interests and actions, in an effort to expose multiple worldviews simultaneously. Kalland presents each side's views on whaling and the rhetorical and symbolic methods that altered the discourse about whaling. The book first discusses the anti-whaling symbols and rhetoric that forms the current dominant discourse. This dominant discourse is then juxtaposed against the alternative (pro-whaling) discourse, while concurrently arguing that subjugation, discrimination, and hypocrisy are present in discourse and policies adopted by governments and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Synopsis: Oil exporting countries have a strong incentive to produce oil for as long as possible ... more Synopsis:
Oil exporting countries have a strong incentive to produce oil for as long as possible and to maintain the illusion that their oil supplies are endless.
This volume discusses the relationship between economics, geopolitics and regional institutional ... more This volume discusses the relationship between economics, geopolitics and regional institutional growth and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
How do states (re)define their relationships amid the current global power transition? How do rival actors influence the rules and formation of new institutions for their own benefit? What role will institutions take as independent actors in influencing and constraining the behavior of states? Institutional development in Asia is characterized by idiosyncratic and diverse motivations (both material and non-material), a variety of policy strategies (strategic and norm-based), and the looming question of China’s future depth of involvement as its economic position becomes more stable and its confidence in foreign affairs grows. The book reflects the broadening definition of Asia by examining multiple perspectives, including Japan, China, South Korea, the United States, Australia, India, Russia, and Taiwan. In addition to state actors, the contributors address several important regional institutions in development such as the ASEAN (+3, +6, and the East Asian Summit), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), existing security alliances, and other bilateral institutions. Ultimately, this volume describes the unique, slow, and diverse growth of a multitude of regional institutions, the complexities of generating cooperation, membership concerns, and competition between states and with existing institutions in the context of China’s increasing confidence and strength.
This book will be of much interest to students of Asian politics, regional security, international organizations, and foreign policy.