The Role of Image in the Formation of Foreign Policy Essay

The Role of Image in the Formation of Foreign Policy - Essay Example For instance, a country that is shrewd in policy making that result in numerous conflicts with other nations will be regarded as hostile and thus the kind of image that it portrays to the world will be negative. It means that any country that will want to engage with this particular nation will have to do due diligence in their policy formulation to incorporate the hostility aspect that is often associated with this country (Smith, Hadfield and Dunne, 2012). In most cases, most nations that are conservative in nature will avoid any form of engagement with this government simply because of the negative image that it has previously portrayed. For instance, a country like the United Kingdom is very conservative and rational in its dealings this enhances its overall image to the world as many other nations will take it as a model nation in their operations. Therefore, whenever they are formulating their policies, they will most likely incorporate the best engagement terms with this country just from the image that it portrays from its mode of governance (Stephenson, 2009). Perception is yet another defining factor of how a nation will structure its foreign policy; take an example in the event of a disaster like a terrorist attack or a tsunami that has swept across a city killing thousands of people. Several nations will stand in solidarity with the affected through sending messages of condolences or offering aid to the victims. These acts o f philanthropy in such situation carry a high perception of how an individual nation feels for the other. The knowledge that a country gets from such actions significantly influences the terms of engagement between the countries, especially when crafting a foreign policy regarding that nation (Stephenson, 2009). Numerous factors are taken into account by countries whenever they are coming up with their foreign policy.

Comparative european politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparative european politics - Essay Example , influential, majoritarian leadership results in superior policy outcomes, Westminster democracies fail to surpass consensus democracies (Lijphart 2007). On a number of pointers, such as inflation, consensus democracies essentially outperform Westminster democracies; in general, they perform slightly better, which somewhat implies that consensus democracies execute no worse (Lijphart 1999). Moreover, consensus democracies have a more moderate, benevolent attributes: better environmental protection, more welfare support, more foreign assistance mission, lower imprisonment rates, and less exercise of capital punishment (Lijphart 1999). Consensus democracy has certain benefits for extremely divided states. Majoritarian democracy may be denounced for ruling out nearly half the population from the decision-making or law-making process, as it can exclude 49.9% of the population from the governmental process (Crepaz et al. 2000). In the existing literature, it is claimed that this disapproval is invalid on two situations (Lijphart 2007). First, if the current minority has an actual opportunity of becoming the future majority, then exclusion perhaps is not a critical dilemma, because each half of the nation alternates being in charge, which will have a tendency to regulate exploitation of the marginalised by the mainstream (Mair 2005). Second, if a country is adequately unvaried, then non-inclusion might not be a critical dilemma since the barred interests of the minority do not diverge much from those of the majority (Ersson & Lane 2003). Lijphart (2007) challenges these two premises by emphasising that in several coun tries, particularly in societies with deep-seated ideological, religious, linguistic, or ethnic divisions, neither situation is valid. These deep-seated cleavages can thwart crossover voting, stopping the current minority from having an actual opportunity of being a future majority (Lijphart 2007). Furthermore, there is unlikely to be a great deal of