In the Current Issue

Volume 135 - Number 1 - Spring 2020

Articles

Do Global Publics View Human Rights Organizations as Handmaidens of the United States?
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David Crow and James Ron look at how global publics view the relationship between human rights organizations and the U.S. government. They argue that ordinary people across various world regions do not perceive human rights groups as “handmaidens” of U.S. foreign policy.

Chinese Domestics Politics and the Internationalization of the Renminbi
Hyoung-Kyu Chey AND Yu Wai Vic Li discuss the domestic politics surrounding the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi. They argue that the Chinese central bank played a leading role in the process because domestic financial reforms necessitated by the internationalization of the renminbi strengthened its own core institutional interests and enhanced its monetary policy effectiveness.

Obama, Congress, and Audience Costs: Shifting the Blame on the Red Line
SARAH BURNS and Andrew Stravers analyze President Barack Obama’s decisions regarding Libya in 2011 and Syria in 2013 and 2014. Using statistical and case study evidence they argue that Obama’s request for congressional support in 2013 was an excuse to avoid action and audience costs rather than a genuine effort to gain congressional support for military action.

The Southern Question: American Voluntary Association Development, 1876–1920
ADAM CHAMBERLAIN, ALIXANDRA B. YANUS, and Nicholas Pyeatt evaluate the efforts of voluntary associations to organize and expand in the South during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. They find that while organizing happened, there were serious impediments to the creation, expansion, and maintenance of associations. They argue that this had important consequences for the political representation of its citizens and the development of civil society in the region.

What “The Cult of the Irrelevant” Neglects (And Gets Right): A Review Essay
PAUL MUSGRAVE reviews Michael Desch’s recently published The Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security which argues that political science’s emphasis on methodology has made it irrelevant to policymakers. Musgrave disagrees and argues that political scientists’ sophistication has made them more useful to policymakers but that the obstacles to research influencing policy lie on the demand side.

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