Author: Ole R. Holsti
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472030116
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401
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Book Description
Thoroughly revised edition of an essential text, incorporating a wealth of new material on American foreign policy since 9/11. The second edition of this concise masterwork includes vast amounts of new material on American foreign policy in the post-9/11 era, including the war in Iraq. Holsti explores the poorly understood role of public opinion in international affairs, looking at Americans' capacity to make informed judgments about issues far removed from their personal experience. "Impressively comprehensive and current: an excellent revision of a book by the #1 authority on the topic. This new edition will remain at the forefront for consultation and textbook adoption on the topic for years to come." -Bruce Russett, Yale University "I thought the first edition was the best single treatment of the subject-so, apparently, did the student who 'borrowed' my copy-and this is a worthy successor. The new edition almost flawlessly accomplishes the goal Holsti sets for himself: an update of his landmark book in light of emerging research and the dramatically changed state of the world that confronts U.S. foreign policy." -Randy Siverson, University of California, Davis "For those who are curious about the impact of 9/11 on American public opinion, for serious students of the relationship between foreign policy and public opinion, for anyone who wants to understand contemporary American opinion about the United States' place in the world, and for citizens tired of conventional wisdom about a difficult and important subject, Holsti's study is not only interesting and topical, it is essential." -Maxine Isaacs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "In an age of almost weekly polling on foreign policy, Holsti's insights are indispensable. He delivers double tour de force in this new edition, providing his own current and historical research along with a comprehensive synthesis of the existing literature. His analysis of the relationships between public opinion and foreign policy since 9/11 will prove particularly valuable for students and scholars alike." -Richard Eichenberg, Tufts University "Holsti combines a vast knowledge of political history and a mastery of the relevant scholarship with up-to-date empirical data to address the question of what role the general public can play in shaping foreign policy. This revised edition is a remarkable achievement." -Shoon Murray, School of International Service, American University
Author: Richard Sobel
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780195105285
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
How strongly does public opinion affect the making of U.S. foreign policy? In The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam, Richard Sobel provides a compelling answer to this provocative question that has long stirred spirited debate among scholars, activists, and policymakers. The book explains how public attitudes have affected the making of U.S. foreign policy. It also explores the tension between theoretical views of what the role of public opinion should be in a democracy and the actual historical records. Focusing on four of the most prominent foreign interventions of the last generation--the Vietnam War, the Nicaraguan contra funding controversy, the Persian Gulf War, and the Bosnia crisis--the book demonstrates that public opinion constrained but did not set American foreign policy. The cases provide detailed information on the events, public attitudes, and policies for each of these four major U.S. conflicts. Sobel supports his argument with insights drawn from the words of decision-makers in public statements, records, and memoirs, as well as from interviews with three former secretaries of state and four former secretaries of defense. The book also explores how public sentiment about a specific crisis emerges over time and how it is often tied to the climate of interventionist and noninterventionist opinion. Clearly written, The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam is an essential text for courses in American government, public opinion, political behavior, and American foreign policy. It will also have strong appeal to scholars, policy makers, and general readers who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the politics behind the most significant conflicts of recent times.
Author: Eugene R. Wittkopf
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742547407
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 450
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Book Description
The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence is a collection of current readings on how the domestic environment impacts American foreign policy today. The volume contains essays by some of the best known scholars on U.S. foreign policy and provides articles that assess the effects of the larger societal environment, the impact of political institutions, and the roles of individuals and bureaucracies on American foreign policy.
Author: Matthew A. Baum
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400841283
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
The American public has consistently declared itself less concerned with foreign affairs in the post-Cold War era, even after 9/11, than at any time since World War II. How can it be, then, that public attentiveness to U.S. foreign policy crises has increased? This book represents the first systematic attempt to explain this apparent paradox. Matthew Baum argues that the answer lies in changes to television's presentation of political information. In so doing he develops a compelling "byproduct" theory of information consumption. The information revolution has fundamentally changed the way the mass media, especially television, covers foreign policy. Traditional news has been repackaged into numerous entertainment-oriented news programs and talk shows. By transforming political issues involving scandal or violence (especially attacks against America) into entertainment, the "soft news" media have actually captured more viewers who will now follow news about foreign crises, due to its entertainment value, even if they remain uninterested in foreign policy. Baum rigorously tests his theory through content analyses of traditional and soft news media coverage of various post-WWII U.S. foreign crises and statistical analyses of public opinion surveys. The results hold key implications for the future of American politics and foreign policy. For instance, watching soft news reinforces isolationism among many inattentive Americans. Scholars, political analysts, and even politicians have tended to ignore the soft news media and politically disengaged citizens. But, as this well-written book cogently demonstrates, soft news viewers represent a largely untapped reservoir of unusually persuadable voters.
Author: Andrew Johnstone
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780203849279
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
Though often overlooked, public opinion has always played a significant role in the development and promotion of US foreign policy and this work seeks to comprehensively assess the impact and nature of that opinion through a collection of historical and contemporary essays. The volume evaluates the role of organizations and movements that look to represent public opinion, and assesses the nature of their relationship with the government. The contributors utilize a number of different approaches to examine this impact, including polling data, assessments of the role of the media, and the wider consideration of ideas and ideology, moving on to examine the specific role played by the public in the policy making and policy promotion process. Engaging with new questions as well as approaching old questions from a new angle, the work argues that whilst the roles change, and the extent of influence varies, the power of the public to both initiate and constrain foreign policy clearly exists and should not be underestimated. This work will be of great interest to all those with an interest in American foreign policy, American politics and American history.
Author: Thomas L. Brewer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780130292407
Category : USA
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
Written in clear, straight-forward prose, this substandve introduction to contemporary American foreign policy and the policy making process places military, economic, and other issues in their global context and in the context of the domestic policy process. Provides an overview of major trends in world politics and discusses many policy problems in a global context. Incorporates recent information and literature concerning process, policy, and changes in the U.S. administration. Contains substandal material on international trade, multi-national corporations, and other significant economic topics.
Author: John W. Spanier
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 428
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Book Description
This book should be of interest to undergraduate students taking courses in politics and American studies.
Author: Eugene R. Wittkopf
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 424
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Book Description
In Faces of Internationalism, Eugene R. Wittkopf examines the changing nature of public attitudes toward American foreign policy in the post-Vietnam era and the role that public opinion plays in the American foreign policymaking process. Drawing on new data--four mass and four elite opinion surveys undertaken by the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations from 1974 to 1986--combined with sophisticated analysis techniques, Wittkopf offers a pathbreaking study that addresses the central question of the relationship of a democracy to its foreign policy. The breakdown of the "consensus" approach to American foreign policy after the Cold War years has become the subject of much analysis. This study contributes to revisionist scholarship by describing the beliefs and preferences that have emerged in the wake of this breakdown. Wittkopf counters traditional views by demonstrating the persistence of U.S. public opinion defined by two dominant and distinct attitudes in the post-Vietnam war years--cooperative and militant internationalism. The author explores the nature of these two "faces" of internationalism, focusing on the extent to which elites and masses share similar opinions and the political and sociodemographic correlates of belief systems. Wittkopf also offers an original examination of the relationship between beliefs and preferences.
Author: Richard A Melanson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315292793
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332
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Book Description
A revealing look at presidential politics and foreign policy-making from the aftermath of Vietnam to the NATO intervention in Kosovo. The book illuminates the relationship between presidents' domestic and foreign policy priorities and the key role of public opinion in constraining presidential initiatives, particularly the ability of a president to use military force overseas. In case studies ranging from the invasion of Grenada through the Gulf War and the dilemmas of Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo, Melanson provides compelling portraits of presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, and their different efforts to forge a foreign policy consensus.
Author: Ole Holsti
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136084509
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391
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Book Description
Ole Holsti, one of the deans of US foreign policy analysis, examines the complex factors involved in the policy decision-making process including the beliefs and cognitive processes of foreign policy leaders and the influence public opinion has on foreign policy. The essays, in addition to being both theoretically and empirically rich, are historical in breadth--with essays on Vietnam--as well as contemporary in relevance--with essays on public opinion and foreign policy after 9/11.
