Methods of Measuring ‘Soft Power’

Abstract

Examination of both theoretical and practical aspects of ‘soft power’ is currently one of the most dynamic research fields within studies of power in international relations. Much of scholarly attention is drawn to various indexes and ratings, designed to evaluate the ‘soft power’ of the leading actors of world politics. However, credibility and relevance of their respective methodologies continue to raise concern. This paper addresses the most common approaches to measuring ‘soft power’. With concrete examples the author examines the strengths and weaknesses of sociological and ‘electoral’ approaches, as well as technical capacities and limitations of cybermetrics intended to measure the level of ‘soft power’ of an international actor. The author concludes that none of these methods could be a single most effective means of assessing ‘soft power’, and a combination of rating research, sociological approach and cybermetrics seems most appropriate and promising. An integral index of ‘soft power’ should be inferred by a combination of quantitative indexes, representing objective indicators, interviews with experts and focus groups, and cybermetrics, based on the study of the most representative media, both traditional and social media. The author emphasizes that the outlined measures could bring expected results only if the notion of ‘soft power’ becomes more conventional and fully operational. This, however, will require a dialogue among experts at the international level.

Keywords

• international relations theory
• ‘soft power’
• power potential
• ‘soft power’ ratings
• cybermetrics analysis
• rating agency