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Theories and Methods in International Relations and Diplomacy
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:5.00
Study Course Accepted:09.02.2024 11:15:21
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | PZK_152 | LQF level: | Level 7 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 5.00 | ECTS: | 7.50 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Politics | Target Audience: | Political Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Kārlis Bukovskis | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 12 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 24 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 8 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 16 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 40 | ||||||||
| Part-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 7 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 14 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 7 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 14 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 28 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Students should have basic knowledge about international relations and international processes. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To provide a comprehensive review of theories and methods of International Relations (IR). | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introduction to the course. The necessity and meaning of theories in researching international relations. The development of theories, actors and structures – the Great Debates. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Actors in international politics: geopolitics, classical realism, neorealism un neoclassical realism. The structure of international politics – neorealism and neoliberalism. Anarchy, structure and regimes. Liberalism (pluralism) in international realtions research. English School. | Lectures | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | The contribution of realism to the development of International Realtion theories. Is it still relevant or can liberalism offer an all-encompassing explanation? | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Identities, discourse, agents and norms in international relations – the post-positivist tradition. | Lectures | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Concepts, theories and approaches. Postcolonialism, feminism, green theories. Securitizatio. Institutionalism. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Developing master’s thesis. Conducting research. Structure, theoretical approach. | Lectures | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Presentation of masters' thesis draft. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Choosing literature and sources. Planning of research – methods and methodology. Qualitative and quantitative methods. | Lectures | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Topic Layout (Part-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introduction to the course. The necessity and meaning of theories in researching international relations. The development of theories, actors and structures – the Great Debates. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Actors in international politics: geopolitics, classical realism, neorealism un neoclassical realism. The structure of international politics – neorealism and neoliberalism. Anarchy, structure and regimes. Liberalism (pluralism) in international realtions research. English School. | Lectures | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | The contribution of realism to the development of International Realtion theories. Is it still relevant or can liberalism offer an all-encompassing explanation? | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Identities, discourse, agents and norms in international relations – the post-positivist tradition. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Concepts, theories and approaches. Postcolonialism, feminism, green theories. Securitizatio. Institutionalism. | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Choosing literature and sources. Planning of research – methods and methodology. Qualitative and quantitative methods. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | • Active participation during classes and seminars (as well as criticism and recommendations given in response to other students' reports) • Essays | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | • Active participation during classes and seminars – 30% • Essays – 20% • Final report – 20% • Exam – 30% | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Knowledge on the IR theories and qualitative and quantitative research methods employed in analysis of IR. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Ability to employ both qualitative and quantitative research methods in analysis of IR theory and empirical issues. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | Ability to employ both qualitative and quantitative research methods in analysis of IR theory and empirical issues. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | M., Reus-Smit, C., True, J. 2005. Theories of International Relations. Houndmills, New York. Palgrave Macmillan. | ||||||||
| 2 | Hans J. Morgenthau, revised by Kenneth W. Thompson. Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. Brief ed. (New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill, 1993) | ||||||||
| 3 | Keohane, R. and Nye, J. S. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1977) | ||||||||
| 4 | Ernst B. Haas, The Uniting Of Europe: Political, Social, And Economical Forces, 1950-1957 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1958) | ||||||||
| 5 | Kenneth Waltz. Theory of International Politics (Boston etc.: McGraw Hills, 1979) | ||||||||
| 6 | Ruggie, J., 1998. Constructing the World Polity. London, New York: Roeutledge | ||||||||
| 7 | Lene Hansen, Security as Practice, 2006 | ||||||||
| 8 | Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change”, in Peter J. Katzenstein, Robert O. Keohane, Stephen D. Krasner (eds.), Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press, 1999) | ||||||||
| 9 | Alexander Wendt. Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) | ||||||||
| 10 | Buzan, B., Hansen, L. 2009. The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge University Press. | ||||||||
| 11 | David Campbell. Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity. Manchester University Press, 1998 | ||||||||
| 12 | Tarak Barkawi, Mark Laffey. “The postcolonial moment in security studies”. Review of International Studies (no. 32, 2006) | ||||||||
| 13 | Robert Cox, The Political Economy of International Change. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987) | ||||||||
| 14 | 3. Cristopher S. Browning, Matt McDonald. “The future of critical security studies: Ethics and politics of security”. European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2011, pp. 235-255 | ||||||||
| 15 | Ryerson Christie. “Critical voices and Human Security: To Endure, To Engage or To Critique?” Security Dialogue, Vol. 41. No. 2, 2010, pp. 169-190. | ||||||||
| 16 | Scott Burchill, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jacqui True, Jack Donnelly. Theories of international relations. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 | ||||||||
| 17 | Stephen Van Evera, Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. – Cornell University Press. – Ithaca and London. – 1997. | ||||||||
| 18 | Peter Burnham, Karin Gilland Lutz, Wyn Grant and Zig Layton-Henry, Research Methods in Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008 | ||||||||
| 19 | John W.Creswell, Research Desing. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd ed. – Sage, 2009 | ||||||||
| 20 | John Gerring, Dino Christenson, Applied Social Science Methodology. An Introductory Guide, Cambridge University Press, 2017 | ||||||||
| 21 | Ed. by David Marsh and Gerry Stoker, Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. – Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 | ||||||||
| 22 | John W.Creswell, Research Desing. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd ed. – Sage, 2009 | ||||||||
| 23 | Thomas R. Lindlof, Bryan C.Taylor, Qualitative Communication Research Methods, 2nd ed., 2002, Sage Publications | ||||||||
| 24 | Roger Pierce, Research Methods in Politics, 2008, Sage Publications | ||||||||
| 25 | M.Larsen "Foreign Policy and Discourse Analysis". | ||||||||
| 26 | Kimberly A. Neuendorf, The Content Analysis. Guidebook. 2008, Sage Publications | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Andrew Moravcsik, Preferences and power in the European Community: A liberal intergovernmentalist approach. Journal of Common Market Studies, 1993, 31 (4): 473–524 | ||||||||
| 2 | Michael W. Doyle. Liberal Peace - Selected Essays (Routledge, 2011) | ||||||||
| 3 | Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State, and War. Columbia University Press. New York: 1959 | ||||||||
| 4 | Stefano Guzzini and Anna Leander (Eds.). Constructivism and International Relations: Alexander Wendt and His Critics. (Abingdon, Oxson, New York: Routledge), 2006, | ||||||||
| 5 | Mark Laffey, JuttaWeldes. “Decolonizing the Cuban Missile Crisis”, SPAIS Working paper, No.04-08 | ||||||||
| 6 | Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics”. International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Spring, 1992), 391-425. | ||||||||
| 7 | Ruggie, J. G. Autumn 1998. “What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-Utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge”, in International Organization. Vol. 52, No. 4. 855-885. | ||||||||
