This study deals with possible relationships between
the political information levels of nation states and their
behavior in the international political system. The purpose
of the study is purely exploratory. Drawing upon the literature of domestic political participation studies and the
systems framework of David Easton, the author investigates
the relevance and implications of the hypothesis, the
availability and reliability of data sources, and the substantive relationship between information and behavior.
The author suggests that a basic modification of the
Easton model— the addition of a membership environment—
makes the framework applicable to the analysis of international politics, and shows political information to be a
salient variable, previously over looked in systemic analyses
of international relations.
Attention is devoted to the utility of news index
and news summary sources for behavioral data. Using correlational techniques, the investigator finds that the advantages
of availability and economy of these sources are
somewhat offset by the existence of biases; no conclusions
can be drawn, the author suggests, until a more systematic
assessment of these sources is undertaken. Using a randomization test for matched pairs of
twenty nation states, the study indicates a probable
relationship between the extent of information channels
and the systemic orientation of states' international
behavior. The information channels utilized in the
research design are diplomatic exchanges and memberships in
inter-governmental organizations. The substantive findings
are then related to the behavioral data source question, and
to the further research ability of the problem.
The author concludes that the results of the pilot
study are sufficiently interesting to warrant fuller investigation of both the hypothesis and the source bias problem. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41840 |
| Date | January 1969 |
| Creators | McMaster, Barrie Glenholme |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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