My research centers on the importance of non-military means to influence international politics. I am fascinated by the ability of individuals and groups to manipulate outcomes through the use of softer forms of power, such as rhetoric and agenda control. Although my dissertation is somewhat limited to the environmental sub-discipline, I am interested in expanding theories of agenda formation to other areas of international politics such as human rights, economics, and security. In addition to my substantive and theoretical interests, I am also interested in improving methodological research design. Although I value the importance of statistical methods, I also want to increase our understanding of methodology before statistical analysis begins, primarily involving question formation, case and data selection, measurement and data creation, and choosing appropriate methods for the research question. My work highlighted in this document illustrates my commitment to these areas of study.
Publications (Peer Reviewed)
Rothman, Steven B. 2008. Comparatively Evaluating Potential Dissertation and Thesis Projects. PS: Political Science & Politics 41 (2):367-369.
Rothman, Steven B. 2007. Understanding Data Quality through Reliability: A Comparison of Data Reliability Assessment from Three Treaty Datasets. International Studies Review 9 (Fall):437-456.
Publications (Not Peer Reviewed)
Duggan, Edward, and Steven B. Rothman. 2008. Peak Oil: Will we see it coming? Register Guard, Feb 3, B3.
Mitchell, Ronald B., and Steven B. Rothman. International Agreement Coding Manual: Formatted for Coders, Trainers, and Trainees (version 1.0). University of Oregon 2007.
Conference Participation
“Getting Attention! International Issue Emergence and Framing in International Environmental Politics”
American Political Science Association, Boston, August 2008 (Poster).
International Studies Association, San Francisco, March, 2008.
“A Framework for Understanding International Issue Emergence (Global Agenda Setting)”
American Political Science Association, Chicago, August 2007.
“Soft Power is No Power at All: The Case for Norm Diffusion”
International Studies Association, Chicago, February 2007.
“Successes and Failures in the Reliability of Coding Qualitative Evidence in International Relations"
International Studies Association, Chicago, February 2007 (Poster - pdf).
“Coding Problems and Prospects from the IEA Project.” Presented on behalf of Ronald B. Mitchell and the IEA project.
Coding Across the Disciplines: A Project – Based Workshop on Manual Text Annotation Techniques, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, University of Pittsburgh, November, 2006.
“Creating Large-N Databases from Qualitative Information: Lessons from Environmental Agreements” Ronald B. Mitchell and Steven B. Rothman.
Building Synergies: Institutions and Cooperation in World Politics, University of Iowa, October, 2006.
American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, August, 2006.
Discussant Remarks on “Conciliatory Agreements and the Durability of Peace” by Michaela C. Mattes.
Building Synergies: Institutions and Cooperation in World Politics, University of Iowa, October, 2006.
“The Japanese Case in the Russo-Japanese War: Security or Economy?”
Northeast Political Science Association, Philadelphia, November, 2005.
“The International Environmental Agreement Project: Analysis of the Effects of Environmental Treaties”
Project Level Aid (PLAID) Conference, College of William and Mary, Washington, D.C, June, 2005.
“Tax Preferences of Oregon Voters: An Analysis of Voting Results from Measure 30”
Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Portland, November, 2004.
“Causes of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5); Examination of Two Competing Theories: Security or Economy?”
Hawaiian International Conference on Social Science, Honolulu, June, 2004.
