Issues and Interests Flashcards
Why is understanding the interests of all parties involved crucial?
for effective communication + problem-sovling.
Interests shape the positions taken by negotiators and influence
their willingness to cooperate and compromise
High politics (survival)
: military security and economic interests.
Low politics
environment
human rights
aid + development
health
Why differnce high/low politics
Because low-politics issues are not perceived as threatening the territorial integrity of the state, they
are not viewed in the same light as security issues
Issue salience !!!!!!!!!
Refers to the importance a particular actor or set of actors gives to an issue – the
perceived stakes.
Not all parties hold the same level of importance for each issue.
Why identifying salient issues?
Not all issues hold the same level of importance for each party. Recognizing the
varying degrees of salience allows negotiators to PRIORITIZE and
ALLOCATE RESOURCES accordingly.
By IDENTIFYING key interests,
and salient issues, negotiators can focus their efforts on finding COMMON GROUND
and addressing the most CRITICAL concerns.
Four factors influence issue salience
- The distribution of costs and benefits among domestic actors
- The commitment of key individuals and groups to the negotiation issue
- The urgency that the presence of a crisis situation adds
- The level of the media attention focused on the negotiations
Starkley defintion issue salience
The importance a particular actor or set of actors give to an issue –>the Perceived stakes (Starkey)
Domestic level
distribution of costs/ benefits among domestic actors
The degree to which any negotiation party feels that it is being unfairly burdened or that others are unfairly rewarded will increase the intensity of that group’s efforts to change policy courts.
- interest groups increase salience
- diverging/ competing perceptions
Commiting to an issue
advantage: issue will become a priority (resources)
disadvantage: issue will be subject to emotions and irrationality (pride & identity)
Sense of urgency (crisis)
Crisis situation create perceptions of high levels of potential costs to a nation-state.
Crises threaten basic national + societal values, raising interest of all policy actors.
*Aim not to further aggravate the situation
* preventive scope
CNN-effect
Perceptions of stakes can be greatly swayed by national + international media.
3 roles the media can take within Political affairs
- Facilitation ‘‘public diplomacy’’ by providing the conduit through which government and individuals can get their points heard.
- Officials sometimes utilise media diplomacy to communicate with actors
- Similar to concept of dual-track diplomacy.
( Unofficial policy discourse)
Back channel
Utility of secret meetings,
avoids pressure from level II (domestic)
Publicizing willingness to negotiate internationally= more pressure from interested groups domestically
(Win-win set: what does it depend on?
- distribution of power
1. preferences + possible coalitions of both international as domestic actors
2. rules of ratification procedure (majority voting) agreement.
3. Costs of non-agreement
–> without overlap: no international agreement.
