Chinese Civilian Foreign Policy Research Institutes: Evolving Roles and Increasing Influence

2002 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 597-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie S. Glaser ◽  
Phillip C. Saunders

A more pragmatic Chinese foreign policy and a more bureaucratic policy-making process have increased the opportunities for China's civilian research institutes to affect foreign policy. Beijing's growing involvement in the international community has created increased demand for research and analysis to aid Chinese leaders in making informed decisions. A more pluralistic and competitive policy environment has given analysts at think tanks more influence, but has also created new competition from analysts and authors working outside the traditional research institute system. This article examines the evolving role of Chinese civilian foreign policy research institutes, their relationships to policy makers, and the pathways through which they provide input into Chinese foreign policy formulation. It provides an overview of the key civilian research institutes, identifies important trends affecting them, and examines the roles and functions they play. The article concludes with an assessment of sources of policy influence within the Chinese foreign policy process.

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-177
Author(s):  
Abdullah Manshur

Public policy is a decision to deal with a particular problem situation, that identifies the objectives, principles, ways, and means to achieve them. The ability and understanding of policy makers in the policy-making process is very important for the realization of public policy of rapid, accurate and adequate. The product to suit the needs of the public policy, public participation in the policy process is needed in the policy cycle, from policy formulation to policy evaluation. This paper attempts to review the importance of community participation and other forms of public participation in the policy process, in particular, policy areas.


Author(s):  
Piers Robinson

This chapter examines the relevance of media and public opinion to our understanding of foreign policy and international politics. It first considers whether public opinion influences foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the public are politically impotent, as argued by the elite model. It then explores whether the media can influence foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the media are fundamentally subservient to the foreign policy process, as argued by the elite model. It also integrates these competing arguments with theoretical frames used in the study of international relations: namely, realism, liberalism, and critical approaches (including constructivism and post-structuralism). The chapter concludes by discussing contemporary debates concerning organized persuasive communication and the ‘war on terror’.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-100
Author(s):  
Intissar Kherigi ◽  
Khalil Amiri

The concept of governance is increasingly used to describe a range of factors relating to “the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels.” The process of policymaking lies at the heart of the governance challenge. The conception, planning, implementation and evaluation of public policies are the visible outcomes of the process of exercising economic, political and administrative authority. These policy processes and their outcomes can be measured, assessed and evaluated in order to improve governance and achieve higher value outcomes for the public. The important role of applied research in this process is increasingly being recognised by practitioners. This paper examines the role of policy research institutes in Tunisia in policy evaluation and providing policy makers with valuable data and analysis in order to contribute to a better understanding of policy problems and more effective policies that are targeted to the needs of the affected groups. Our research shows that such institutes are developing a stake in the policymaking process in Tunisia, using new spaces for policy research and critical engagement to scrutinise and question government policies, challenge policy frameworks and government models and raise new policy problems. The paper examines the challenges facing these institutes and presents recommendations for strengthening their role in order to contribute to developing more effective forms of policy monitoring and evaluation that can help the state to design more effective public services, assist legislative bodies to better exercise their role of democratic oversight, and raise the public’s level of understanding of, and engagement in, how their government is conducting their affairs.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (II) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Fozia BiBi ◽  
Abida Yousaf

The foreign policy process involves many internal and external factors. This paper is mainly focusing on some important domestic factors in the formulation of Foreign Policy of Pakistan. Due to Parliamentary form of government, Prime Minister plays a significant role at home and abroad. However, due to the complexity of the foreign policy formulation it also involves President, Foreign Minister, and Parliament along with Prime Minister. However, the role of public opinion and media is also important in this regard. Moreover, foreign policy decisions are also influenced and affected by the responses of public and media. Islamic Republic of Pakistan is an ideological State and ideology also plays a key role in the formulation of the foreign policy. The Islamic ideology provides the foundations of foreign policy of Pakistan since independence.


Author(s):  
Arwanto Arwanto ◽  
Wike Anggraini

ABSTRACT Understanding policy process involves many distinctive approaches. The most common are institutional, groups or networks, exogenous factors, rational actors, and idea-based approach. This paper discussed the idea-based approach to explain policy process, in this case policy change. It aims to analyse how ideas could assist people to understand policy change. What role do they play and why are they considered as fundamental element? It considers that ideas are belong to every policy actor, whether it is individual or institution. In order to answer these questions, this paper adopts Kingdon’s multi streams approach to analyse academic literatures. Through this approach, the relationship between ideas and policy change can be seen clearer. Ideas only can affect in policy change if it is agreed and accepted by policy makers. Therefore the receptivity of ideas plays significant role and it emerges policy entrepreneurs. They promote ideas (through problem framing, timing, and narrative construction) and manipulate in order to ensure the receptivity of ideas. Although policy entrepreneurs play significant role, political aspects remains the most important element in the policy process. Keywords: policy change, ideas, idea-based approach, Kingdon’s multiple streams, policy entrepreneurs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 186810262110186
Author(s):  
Patrik Andersson

Research confirms that China is becoming more engaged in the Arctic. However, international relations scholarship often extrapolates from relatively few instances of activity to wide-ranging claims about Chinese priorities. Fortunately, Chinese political discourse is organised by labels that allow us to study how the Arctic is classified and ranked along China’s other foreign policy priorities. This article analyses two such classifications – “important maritime interest” and “strategic new frontier,” exploring how they have come about, what they mean, and how they add political priority to the Arctic. It argues that hierarchies are constructed in two ways: by adding gradients and by including/excluding categories of priority. It views categories as performative: they not only convey information about character and relative importance of interests but are also used for achieving different objectives. By focusing on foreign policy classifications, the article contributes to a more nuanced and precise understanding of China’s Arctic interests.


Author(s):  
Ingvar Mattson

This chapter describes the role of the Swedish parliament, and parliamentary committees in particular, in the policy-making process. The role depends on the parliamentary situation: whether there is a majority government or minority government in power. In essence, the chapter shows that Parliament mainly approves governmental bills and seldom initiates legislation. It is an arena for both political conflict and consensus. Political negotiations between governmental parties and opposition parties occur in which the opposition has influence on parliamentary decisions in the policy process. Due to increased conflict between the two blocs in Swedish politics, the importance of the committees as grounds for negotiating compromises has, however, decreased.


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