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6 pages, 213 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Conclusion: Special Issue on the Visual International Relations Project

by Sarah Gansen and Patrick James

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(10), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100537 - 25 Sep 2023

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Abstract

This Special Issue of Social Sciences has introduced and applied the systemist graphical method of conveying ideas [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

Research

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9 pages, 789 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religious Discrimination against Minorities: Theories and Findings

by Yasemin Akbaba

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090522 - 19 Sep 2023

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Abstract

One of the established trends in religion and international relations (IR) scholarship is the awareness of a rising level of religious discrimination against minorities. Although there is variation in rates, religious restrictions are widely observed across the globe, including in Western democracies. Scholarship [...] Read more.

One of the established trends in religion and international relations (IR) scholarship is the awareness of a rising level of religious discrimination against minorities. Although there is variation in rates, religious restrictions are widely observed across the globe, including in Western democracies. Scholarship on the restrictions on religious practices has advanced through seeking answers to the following questions: Who discriminates? Who is discriminated against more? What are the causes of restrictions on religious freedom? What are the forms of discrimination? The purpose of this article is to connect the theories and findings of two religious discrimination studies of IR via the graphic method of systemism. Featured works engage with religious discrimination in a sub-group of states—Western democracies and those with a Christian majority. While one study focused on government-based restrictions, the other one engaged with societal ones. Collectively, these works revealed the fragility of freedom and the importance of understanding the mechanisms that protect it. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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11 pages, 1340 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

People and Places: The Contextual Side of Politics in Demography and Geography

by Tadeusz Kugler and J. Patrick Rhamey

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(8), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080456 - 15 Aug 2023

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Abstract

The disciplines of political demography and geography examine the interplay between social behaviors, spatial dimensions, politics, and policy. Investigations into demographic shifts, driven by evolving social norms or domestic and international political events, can influence numerous critical dependent variables in international relations, such [...] Read more.

The disciplines of political demography and geography examine the interplay between social behaviors, spatial dimensions, politics, and policy. Investigations into demographic shifts, driven by evolving social norms or domestic and international political events, can influence numerous critical dependent variables in international relations, such as trade, development, and inter- and intra-state conflict. Similarly, geography and the interconnection of space with independent variables, such as power, wealth, and culture, yield similar insights. In this article, we employ a systemist approach from the Visual International Relations Project (VIRP) to provide a brief overview of the theoretical intersection between geography, demography, and international relations focusing on using VIRP to teach these subjects. To accomplish this, we have selected two representative pieces of literature from each field. For demography, we examine Hendrik Urdal’s A Clash of Generations? Youth Bulges and Political Violence, and for geography, we review Alex Braithwaite’s The Geographic Spread of Militarized Disputes. These seminal articles in their respective fields demonstrate the clear applicability of demography and geography to international politics scholarship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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16 pages, 2153 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Polarization and Moral Threat: Insights from Systemist Analysis

by Ilona Goldner and Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(8), 453; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080453 - 14 Aug 2023

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Abstract

This article presents a theoretical framework for understanding the social consequences of polarization-driven behaviors by conceptualizing them as a moral threat to the self. Our argument employs systemist graphics, illustrating key connections and patterns from two distinct scientific works. First, an analysis of [...] Read more.

This article presents a theoretical framework for understanding the social consequences of polarization-driven behaviors by conceptualizing them as a moral threat to the self. Our argument employs systemist graphics, illustrating key connections and patterns from two distinct scientific works. First, an analysis of polarization-driven behavior, which reveals Americans’ willingness to trade democratic values for partisan goals. Second, research on moral disengagement strategies, revealing the role of resentment as a coping mechanism in armed conflicts. We offer a synthesis analysis between these two studies and uncover a twofold role of morality in polarization: as a factor in forming partisan animosity and a catalyst in its perpetuation and intensification. We further highlight the role of outgroup hate, rather than ingroup love, in driving negative actions resulting from polarization, and the challenge of reconciling morally-driven conflicts. Our framework sheds new light on the complex interplay between morality and conflicts, with implications for social cohesion, erosion of moral values, and democratic backsliding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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12 pages, 1434 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Key Concepts in the Poliheuristic Theory of Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Comparative Examination Using Systemist Theory

by Steven B. Redd

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(8), 446; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080446 - 08 Aug 2023

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Abstract

The poliheuristic theory of foreign policy decision making incorporates the conditions surrounding foreign policy decisions, as well as the cognitive processes decision makers undergo en route to a choice. It argues that high-level decision makers, who routinely face stressful decision environments, engage in [...] Read more.

The poliheuristic theory of foreign policy decision making incorporates the conditions surrounding foreign policy decisions, as well as the cognitive processes decision makers undergo en route to a choice. It argues that high-level decision makers, who routinely face stressful decision environments, engage in a two-stage decision process wherein they first employ cognitive-based, heuristic shortcuts in an attempt to simplify the decision task. In the second stage, once the decision task is more manageable, decision makers employ more analytic strategies in order to minimize risks and maximize rewards. Poliheuristic theory also posits that politics is the essence of decision and that decision makers will avoid choosing alternatives that hurt them politically. Using systemist theory, I compare two journal articles that use poliheuristic theory to explain foreign policy behavior and choices. More specifically, I compare Özdamar and Erciyas’s 2020 Foreign Policy Analysis article, which uses case study methods to analyze Turkish decisions during the crises of 1964, 1967, and 1974, with Redd’s 2002 Journal of Conflict Resolution article that uses experimental methods to analyze decision making in an advisory group setting. Systemism uses diagrams in a visual approach to explicate the relationships among various factors in any given theory. As such, systemism enables us to precisely examine how poliheuristic theory has evolved over nearly twenty years as well as compare what the different methodologies of case studies and experimental methods have to offer in explaining the foreign policy behavior of leaders and their advisers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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7 pages, 1254 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Cross-National Active Learning in Global Development Studies: De-Colonizing the Curriculum

by Mary Jane Parmentier

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(7), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12070414 - 19 Jul 2023

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Abstract

De-colonizing the curriculum and active learning approaches that engage students experientially are both current themes in the teaching of International Studies and related disciplines. For the discipline of global development, both are critically needed approaches to training students who are able to work [...] Read more.

De-colonizing the curriculum and active learning approaches that engage students experientially are both current themes in the teaching of International Studies and related disciplines. For the discipline of global development, both are critically needed approaches to training students who are able to work across national contexts and effectively interact with communities of different political histories and cultures. Yet neither is necessarily straightforward. This article explores two pedagogical projects that, while very different from each other, reveal commonalities through a technique of systemist notation and visualization, strengthening their contribution to cross-cultural and cross-national active learning. While online international collaborations and study abroad programs are different pedagogical contexts, they both involve significant levels of intercultural communication and knowledge exchange, neither of which is a given and requires careful course design and implementation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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10 pages, 676 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

When States Regionally Integrate: How Relative Economic Size and Institutional Homogeneity Matter

by Gaspare M. Genna

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(7), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12070397 - 07 Jul 2023

Viewed by 938

Abstract

This study compares two articles that seek to explain why states participate in regional integration organizations and why they want to deepen their economic and political partnerships. The method of comparison is the systemist diagrammatic approach, which requires a deconstruction and mapping of [...] Read more.

This study compares two articles that seek to explain why states participate in regional integration organizations and why they want to deepen their economic and political partnerships. The method of comparison is the systemist diagrammatic approach, which requires a deconstruction and mapping of ideas found in social science. The articles demonstrate common variables in their explanations, namely that power asymmetry and satisfaction with the status quo among regional partners are critical in determining why states integrate. The articles diverge in their explanations, with one emphasizing the similarities of institutionalized policies and the other the role a rising power, China, has in developing regional integration in the Western Hemisphere. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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Other

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13 pages, 5398 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Introduction: Special Issue on the Visual International Relations Project

by Sarah Gansen and Patrick James

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090498 - 04 Sep 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 929

Abstract

The application of systemism, an innovative and user-friendly technique for generating lucid, graphic summaries of analytical arguments, can enhance the social sciences. Content, as research and pedagogy move forward, becomes increasingly vast and diverse in theory and methods. Systemism offers both a means [...] Read more.

The application of systemism, an innovative and user-friendly technique for generating lucid, graphic summaries of analytical arguments, can enhance the social sciences. Content, as research and pedagogy move forward, becomes increasingly vast and diverse in theory and methods. Systemism offers both a means and a method for enhanced communication in the face of challenges posed by the rapid expansion of the social sciences in the fast-paced world of the new millennium. This is the motivation for a Special Issue of Social Sciences that will show systemism in action. The Visual International Relations Project (VIRP) archive continues to accumulate materials. The contents of this Special Issue will demonstrate the value of that resource across a wide range of subject areas. This introductory article proceeds in five sections. The first section provides a general overview of systemism and the VIRP. The second section introduces systemism in greater detail as a graphic approach to the communication of ideas. The third section applies systemism to convey the framework for analysis utilizing a classic work of social science—The Logic of Collective Action. The fourth section outlines the articles that follow in making up the Special Issue. The fifth and final section sums up what has been accomplished in this introductory article. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Visual International Relations Project)

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