The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations offers a comprehensive overview of research processes in social science—from the ideation and design of research projects, through the construction of theoretical arguments, to conceptualization, measurement, and data collection, and quantitative & qualitative empirical analysis—exposited through 65 major new contributions from leading international methodologists.

Republicanism is a powerful resource for emancipatory struggles against domination. Its commitment to popular sovereignty subverts justifications of authority, locating power in the hands of the citizenry who hold the capacity to create, transform, and maintain their political institutions. Republicanism's conception of freedom rejects social, political, and economic structures subordinating citizens to any uncontrolled power - from capitalism and wage-labour to patriarchy and imperialism. It views any such domination as inimical to republican freedom.

Referendums divide the electorate into winners, losers, and abstainers. Research has shown that these three groups tend to differ substantially in their evaluations of the fairness of a referendum. However, no study has investigated the nature and determinants of citizens’ perceptions of the fairness of a national referendum from long before until long after the vote. I address this lacuna by studying perceived fairness of the Brexit referendum using a four-wave panel dataset that tracks perceptions of fairness from before the referendum to 10 months after.

How have African rulers responded to the introduction of democratic electoral competition? Despite the broadly negative picture painted by the prevailing focus on electoral fraud, clientelism, and ethnic conflict, the book argues that the full story is somewhat more promising. While these unfortunate practices may be widespread, African rulers also seek to win votes through the provision and distribution of public goods and services.

Russia's re‐emergence as an influential diplomatic actor on the Arabian Peninsula after more than a quarter‐century in the geopolitical wilderness has startled the U.S. foreign policy community and countered expectations of a sustained Russia‐Gulf rift over Moscow's military support for Syrian President Bashar al‐Assad. The crowning achievement of Russia's diplomatic outreach to the peninsula was Moscow's June 2018 ratification of a strategic‐partnership agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is often described as the most trusted U.S. security partner in the Arab world.

A ‘world view’ perspective is deployed to show President Xi Jinping’s dominance of China’s policy-making environment and the ideas that he and his leadership group have tried to promote. We use this framework to explain China’s relations with three major countries that are crucial to manage successfully in order for China to consolidate its global and regional ambitions – Japan, Russia and the United States.

On June 21, 2019, Oxford University's Centre for Technology and Global Affairs – in collaboration with The Flying Object and the UK Space Agency – held its Future Skies Workshop: Private Industry and Public Policies Shaping the Future of the Space Sector in Oxford.