Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis and International Relations Theory

Abstract

In recent years, studies in the fields of both foreign policy analysis and international relations theory on China’s domestic level have increased. However, these increases in studies have not been well received. Our research reviewed the related classical literature and the published literature over the past decade, seeking to find correlations among the various domestic factors and explore the progress of the operationalization of several variables. Our findings reveal that regime type and beliefs are the two variables which have been well studied in both of the fields of foreign policy analysis and international relations theory; that variables related to actors have been studied in the field of foreign policy analysis; and that new academic achievements in both the studies have been adopted into the paradigms of international relations theory. These new developments have generally stimulated multilevel analysis in international relations.

Alternate abstract:

近年来，国内政治层次在对外政策分析和国际关系理论两个领域的共同推动下，形 成了一个要素庞多、交互复杂的知识网络体系，但却很少有研究兼顾宏观与微观双视角下去 探究、梳理、整合这个知识体系。通过考察相关经典文献与近十年的研究成果，本文对国际 关系研究中的国内政治解释进行类型化的分析，从宏观上寻找各要素之间的相关性，从微观 上探索各变量的操作化进展。各变量在对外政策分析与国际关系理论两个领域的发展状况和 深入程度存在差异，其中政体、观念等是两个领域的交互关系较深的变量，而行为体相关变 量主要由对外政策分析领域推动，一些国际关系理论范式直接套用了这些研究成果。两个领 域间相互推动发展的这种关系，不仅使国际关系研究不再只强调单方向、单层次的分析方法， 而且互动与跨层次分析的成果也越来越丰富。