Does Soft Power Matter? A Comparative Analysis of Student Exchange Programs 1980–2006

TLDR: In this article, the authors argue that US-hosted educational exchange programs are one mechanism whereby citizens of non-democratic states might experience life firsthand in a democratic country and their experiences may impact the political institutions and influence political behavior in their home countries.

Abstract: Democratic governance depends not only on the building of democratic institutions but also on citizens’ knowledge about how these institutions should function in their everyday lives. I argue that US-hosted educational exchange programs are one mechanism whereby citizens of nondemocratic states might experience life firsthand in a democratic country. Their experiences may impact the political institutions and influence political behavior in their home countries. In order for this process to take place, I argue that at least three contextual conditions are important: (i) the depth and extent of social interactions that occur while abroad, (ii) the sharing of a sense of community or common identity between participants and their hosts, and (iii) the attainment of a politically influential position by the exchange participant when they return home. In this article, I test these hypotheses and find support for what advocates of soft power often contend: US-hosted exchange programs can play an important role in the diffusion of liberal values and practices across the borders of authoritarian states. The current war in Iraq has illustrated the difficulties of imposing democratic institutions in states where democratic norms are underdeveloped and citizens have little previous experience of the everyday functioning of democratic practices. One consequence has been calls for the United States to engage in a ‘‘war of ideas’’ with nonliberal forces that have impeded the spread and development of democratic norms and practices. But how might the United States actually ‘‘fight’’ such a war? Soft power advocates, US policy makers, and scholars have frequently claimed that US-hosted educational exchange programs might provide one strategy for the United States to effectively engage its ideational adversaries (e.g., Nye and Owens 1996; Nye 2004; Williams 2004; Rice 2006; US White House 2006; Phillips and Brooks 2008). While such claims are made, there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate them. Exceptions are a few studies that have argued that attendance by foreign military officers at US military schools has had a positive impact on the development of democratic institutions (Cope 1995; Gibler and Ruby 2002; Atkinson 2006; Miller 2006). The research presented in this article complements and expands the scope of these studies by empirically evaluating the impact of both military and civilian exchanges. When we think about what is meant by liberal practices, two observable phenomena come to mind: first, whether a state’s institutions are democratic or authoritarian, and second, whether leaders respect the life and fundamental liberties of their citizens. Building the political institutions of democracy is certainly