Public Support for International Cooperation and Economic Policy
Ryan Brutger, Professor
Political Science
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2024.
My research studies international negotiations, international organizations, and domestic public support for international cooperation and economic policies. This includes a range of substantive issues, such as the negotiations surrounding the Iran-nuclear deal, the World Trade Organization, climate-change talks, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and antitrust policy. My research examines how leaders engage with international organizations (IOs), how leaders conduct international negotiations, and how the public learns about international negotiations and cooperation (such as through media coverage). Rather than focusing exclusively on the final substance of negotiations and the policies of IOs, we will examine leaders talk about and engage with IOs and how negotiations are conducted. This includes examining who is involved in which roles (international organizations, political leaders, mediators, etc.), and how the media reports on the negotiation process. The goal is to understand what factors of policy formation and negotiations generate public attention and how they shape public attitudes toward international agreements and economic policy.
Role: Students will participate by identifying media coverage of specific IOs, policy proposals, and negotiations and documenting the volume of media coverage in major news outlets. Students may engage in systematic coding of the media content, and may also develop case studies of particular negotiations and events. Depending on which aspects we focus on in the particular semester, students may learn how to conduct advanced searches in LexisNexis, how to document and report findings, and will gain substantive knowledge about historical and contemporary international negotiations and IOs. Depending on the level of progress made, students may also help conduct analysis of the data using R and may contribute to the editing and revision process for articles and a book manuscript.
Qualifications: Students must be organized and interested in international relations, economic policy, or negotiations.
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: Students may conduct research virtually and meetings may be virtually or in person depending on the composition of the research team.
Related website: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/brutger/research?authuser=0
Social Sciences