IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/pbapdi/v19y2023i4d10.1057_s41254-023-00301-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What diplomats do: US citizen perspectives on the work of public diplomacy

Author

Listed:
  • Steven L. Pike

    (Syracuse University)

Abstract

This research uses Q methodology to study the perceptions that US citizens hold of diplomatic practice. It builds upon prior research into the self-perceptions that US diplomats, specifically public diplomacy practitioners, hold of the work that they do and the attributes of their profession. The research effort seeks to identify and categorize specific attributes to contribute to a greater understanding of said attributes; to facilitate the hiring, training, and management of diplomatic practitioners; and to contribute to the elaboration of a sociology of the profession of public diplomacy. Data analysis of the Q study responses of multiple survey groups in 2019 and 2021 reveal clusters of consistency in the views that diplomats and citizens share of the diplomatic profession, with regard not only to attributes considered most representative but also those considered most unrepresentative of diplomats and diplomatic behavior. In fact, second-order factor analysis revealed that while there is an observable consensus on certain values or attributes that diplomats do (or should) share, there is an even stronger and more consistent consensus on values that respondents do not consider representative of the diplomatic profession.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven L. Pike, 2023. "What diplomats do: US citizen perspectives on the work of public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 442-455, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:19:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1057_s41254-023-00301-w
    DOI: 10.1057/s41254-023-00301-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41254-023-00301-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41254-023-00301-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nye, Joseph S., 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power," Scholarly Articles 11738397, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    2. Joseph S. Nye Jr., 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 94-109, March.
    3. Nicholas J. Cull, 2008. "Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 31-54, March.
    4. Eytan Gilboa, 2008. "Searching for a Theory of Public Diplomacy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 55-77, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steven L. Pike & Dennis F. Kinsey, 2024. "Diplomatic identity and communication: using Q methodology to assess subjective perceptions of diplomatic practitioners," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 66-75, March.
    2. Hendrik W. Ohnesorge, 2022. "The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 261-271, September.
    3. Andrea Pavón-Guinea & Mónica Codina, 2024. "Public diplomacy: a framework-based literature review and decentering research agenda," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 255-274, September.
    4. Matthew T. Palmer & Eugene Bempong Nyantakyi & Jami A. Fullerton, 2023. "The US Peace Corps as a public diplomacy strategy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 15-29, March.
    5. Seow Ting Lee, 2022. "Film as cultural diplomacy: South Korea’s nation branding through Parasite (2019)," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 93-104, June.
    6. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Country image, cultural diplomacy, and sports during the COVID19 pandemic: Brand America and Super Bowl LV," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 249-265, September.
    7. Mihails Potapovs, 2024. "Place branding: is it public policy, or isn’t it?," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 275-292, September.
    8. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Sports, Brand America and U.S. public diplomacy during the presidency of Donald Trump," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 167-180, March.
    9. Nisha Garud-Patkar, 2022. "Mediated Public Diplomacy: Frame-building Contest Between the United States and Pakistan During a Conflict," International Studies, , vol. 59(1), pages 58-75, January.
    10. Nadia Kaneva & Cecilia Cassinger, 2022. "Centering gender in public diplomacy and nation branding: an invitation to reimagine the future of the field," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 305-313, December.
    11. Linlan Xu & Chunying Wen, 2024. "Bringing multidisciplinary perspectives of country image: factors influencing the perceptions of Chinese youth toward the images of Russia and Ukraine," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 306-321, September.
    12. Sameera Durrani, 2023. "What happens when a country bleeds soft power? Conceptualising ‘Negative Watch’: towards an epistemology for negative and adversarial place branding," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 456-475, December.
    13. B. Theo Mazumdar, 2024. "Digital diplomacy: Internet-based public diplomacy activities or novel forms of public engagement?," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 24-43, March.
    14. Anna Kobierecka & Michał Marcin Kobierecki, 2024. "Public diplomacy and nation branding in action: Swiss Embassy's participation in the Night of Museums Event in Warsaw," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 204-217, June.
    15. Michał Marcin Kobierecki, 2023. "Sport at the World Expo. Analysis of sports diplomacy at the non-sporting event," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 413-425, December.
    16. Lesego Alicia Keimetswe, 2023. "The impact of the Chinese Government Scholarship Program and Confucius Institute on China’s national image in Botswana: a soft power perspective," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 488-499, December.
    17. Nyam Elisha Yakubu, 2022. "An Appraisal of Hard Power in Contemporary Practice of Diplomacy," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(02), pages 342-351, February.
    18. Raquel Quevedo-Redondo & Marta Rebolledo & Nuria Navarro-Sierra, 2023. "Music as Soft Power: The Electoral Use of Spotify," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(2), pages 241-254.
    19. Yazeed Abdullah Almahraj, 2023. "British press coverage of international sports events hosted by Saudi Arabia: content analysis study in light of country concept model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    20. SunHa Yeo & Hyelim Lee & Alex Eschbach, 2024. "Measuring soft power via positive spontaneous actions of foreign publics: The harder power of voluntary experience, voluntary megaphoning, and general interest," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 130-141, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:19:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1057_s41254-023-00301-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.