James Scott

co-author of Choosing to Lead: Understanding Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs and The Politics of United States Foreign Policy, 5th Edition and editor of US Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal?

November 4, 2015

James M. Scott joined OSU as Professor and Department Head in August 2006. He has authored/co-authored six books, including Deciding to Intervene: The Reagan Doctrine and American Foreign Policy (Duke University Press, 2006), After the End: Making American Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War World (Duke University Press, 1998, editor and contributor), The Politics of United States Foreign Policy (Thomson, Wadsworth, 2011, with Jerel A. Rosati), Choosing to Lead: Understanding Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs (Duke University Press, 2009, with Ralph G. Carter), and US Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal? (CQ Press, 2012, co-editor with Steven W. Hook and chapter contributor). His numerous articles have appeared in such journals as International Studies Quarterly, Social Science Journal, Foreign Policy Analysis, Congress and the Presidency, Democratization, Global Society, International Studies Perspectives, Political Science Quarterly, Politics and Policy, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and others. Dr. Scott has been president of both the International Studies Association Midwest (2000) and the Foreign Policy Analysis Section (2001) of the International Studies Association and began a six-year term as co-editor of the International Studies Association Journal Foreign Policy Analysis in Fall 2009.

Shedding new light on how U.S. foreign policy is made, Ralph G. Carter and James M. Scott focus on 'congressional foreign policy entrepreneurs,' the often unrecognized representatives and senators who take action on foreign policy matters rather than waiting for the executive branch to do so. In Choosing to Lead, Carter and Scott examine the characteristics, activities, and impact of foreign policy entrepreneurs since the end of the Second World War. In so doing, they show not only that individual members of Congress have long influenced the U.S. foreign policy-making process, but also that the number of foreign policy entrepreneurs has grown over time. By illuminating the roles and impact of individual members of Congress, Carter and Scott contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the broader U.S. foreign policy-making process.

Widely considered to be a definitive work on how U.S. foreign policy is made, The Politics Of United States Foreign Policy uses three levels of analysis that demonstrate how government, society, and the historical-global environment all impact policymaking. Appropriate for those professors who want to teach a course that emphasizes process, the text blends substance, history, and theory in a lively narrative that is comprehensive, accessible, and informative. This new fifth edition is streamlined and updated and includes coverage of the 2008 elections, the new Congress, the global economic crisis, updates on the Iraq War, and the Obama administration's foreign policy.

This new contributed volume from Steven Hook and James Scott introduces students to the conduct of foreign policy under the Obama administration. Its twelve original essays, written by a stellar cast of experts in the field, address whether the Obama administration's strategy represents a 'renewal' of U.S. engagement. To what extent has this administration succeeded in building both the domestic and international constituencies needed to implement its foreign policy goals? How exactly have Obama's policies regarding drone strikes, prisoner abuse, extraordinary rendition, and climate change differed from Bush-era policies? Contributors provide detailed assessments of these and many other key questions. The the volume's first part looks at policy formulation, while the second part tackles policy domains. An extensive bibliography provides a useful resource for further research.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2011-honorees/james-scott

Last Updated: 14 January 2022