Suchergebnisse

A discussion of the book by Marin Saeter, Det politiske Europa -- Europeisk integrasjon: Teori, ide og praksis ([Political Europe -- European Integration: Theory, Ideas, and Praxis] Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 1971), as an illustration of the importance of Norsk Utenrikpolitisk Institutt (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs [NUPI]) to political sciences. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines whether the thesis of classical realism that political states are primarily motivated by the desire for military and economic power applies to the British Empire (1815-1914). The article questions to what extent the emergence of the British Empire (1815-1914) was driven by Britain's foreign policy to alter existing power structures in international relations. The article offers an overview of pre-imperial, imperial, and post-imperial strategies within the theory classical realism, and then applies these strategies to analyze the pre-imperial (1600-1815), imperial (1815-1914) period of the British Empire. A discussion of the post-imperial period focuses on Britain's maintenance of status quo and its alliance with the U.S. The article concludes that the theory of classical realism in international relations is useful to the discussion of the emergence, use, and maintenance of political power of the British Empire (1814-1915). This article is one in a series of articles on the topic of empires. References. E. Sundby

The article discusses the African state, using Michael Mann's theory of state formation as a starting point. Mann describes state formation as a process through which society is gradually "caged in" by the state, establishing the state as the highest political authority & the final arbiter of conflict within its territory. I argue that African states have been unable to "cage in" their societies. On the one hand, this means that politics does not only consist in struggles about control over the state or the content of state politics. Instead, the state's right to formulate laws & policies that are binding for society as a whole is challenged. On the other hand, since the state is unable to control its borders, interstate relations also take a different form. Conflicts that start as civil wars tend to spread across borders, without any of the affected states being able to prevent it. As a result, the distinction between the internal & the external becomes blurred. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article question what are the causes of inaccuracies in opinion polls, and what is the political impact of opinion polls and their inherent risk of inaccuracies. Examples are provided of opinion polls that failed to predict the outcome of the 2008 Democratic primary elections. The author considers the strong US traditions of polling and ties to the academic community, and examines special issues present in American politics and the nomination process for the 2008 election to explain low polling accuracy. Statistical and methodological premises of opinion polls are discussed. It is suggested that the issue of race had an impact on respondents' willingness to answer truthfully questions about their candidate of choice in primary election opinion polls. A discussion of media presentation of polling results is included and it is argued that media organizations are increasingly ordering exclusive polls as opposed to reporting aggregate results from multiple polls conducted by independent sources. The bandwagon theory of the effect polling influencing results is discussed. The article refers to the American Association for Public Opinion Research special panel to shed light on pre-election polling. It is concluded that opinion polls will continue to have an important role in election reporting. References. E. Sundby