Some Assessments and Uses of Public Opinion in Diplomacy

Fagen, Richard R.

doi:10.1086/266963

Cited by 6 publications

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“…The availability of substantial collections of documents relating to the 1914 European crisis enabled Richard Fagen (1960) to study the uses and assessments of public opinion during the weeks leading up to World War I. Doris Graber undertook an intensive study of four decisions during the early period of American history-Adams's decision to renew negotiations with France in 1800, the Louisiana Purchase, Madison's policies leading up to the War of 1812, and enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine. The availability of substantial collections of documents relating to the 1914 European crisis enabled Richard Fagen (1960) to study the uses and assessments of public opinion during the weeks leading up to World War I. Doris Graber undertook an intensive study of four decisions during the early period of American history-Adams's decision to renew negotiations with France in 1800, the Louisiana Purchase, Madison's policies leading up to the War of 1812, and enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine.…”

Section: The Renaissance Of Interest In Public Opinion and Foreign Pomentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus Mershon Series: Research Programs and Debates

Holsti¹

1992

International Studies Quarterly

385

217

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Wiley and The International Studies Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to International Studies Quarterly. This article surveys and assesses theories and research on public opinion and foreign policy. Most of the evidence is drawn from the literature on the United States. Three twentieth-century wars have had a significant impact on theory and scholarship. World War I-the first public relations war-and postwar efforts to create a new international order directed much attention to the nature of public opinion and its impact on foreign affairs, issues on which realists and liberals came to quite different conclusions. The period surrounding World War II coincided with the development of scientific polling. Much of the attention during and immediately after the war focused on the extent to which the public might support or oppose an internationalist American role. Extensive research during the first two decades after World War II yielded a broad agreement (the "Almond-Lippmann consensus") on three propositions about public opinion: (1) it is volatile and thus provides inadequate foundations for stable and effective foreign policies, (2) it lacks coherence or structure, but (3) in the final analysis, it has little if any impact on foreign policy. The Vietnam War and its aftermath stimulated a new outburst of research activity on public opinion and foreign policy, much of which has challenged each of these three propositions. The article concludes with suggestions for further research efforts, including: (1) case studies employing archival sources to assess more directly the impact of public opinion, (2) cross-national studies, (3) development of standard questions in order to encourage better cumulation of survey results, and (4) research that will enable us to distinguish findings that are timeand context-bound from those that transcend the Cold War period.Author's note: For helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper I am grateful to Stephen 1 Recent research has found that the foreign policies of democracies are indeed different from those of other polities and, further, that democracies do n-ot engage in war against each other.

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Section: The Renaissance Of Interest In Public Opinion and Foreign Pomentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus Mershon Series: Research Programs and Debates

Holsti¹

1992

International Studies Quarterly

385

217

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“…Davison provides two common usages of the term "public opinion"; the fi rst, refers to the fi ndings of opinion polls as an indicator of public opinion, while the other usage of the term is as an agent that enforces social norms and taboos. Fagen (1960) suggests that public opinion is not only a technical concept used by social scientists;…”

Section: Public Opinionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Press Freedom Under Siege: Effects of Market Forces, Government Controls and Journalism Practices

Nelson

2007

BJR

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“…First of all, they are groups of men who embody a very ambiguous national will (Almond, 1950;Osgood and North, 1962;304 Snyder, et al, 1962;Wolfers, 1962;Guetzkow, et al, 1963;and Brody, 1964) . Second, they are constrained by public opinion (Lippman, 1922;Almond, 1950;Simon, 1957;Fagen, 1960;Huntington, 1961;Lemer and Gorden, 1961;Rosenau, 1961;and Brody, 1964). Third, they are influenced by their own personality structures; in addition to the work cited in the previous section, analyses include those of Lasswell (1930Lasswell ( , 1948; Scodel, Ratoosh and Minas ( 1959) ; ; Driver ( 1962) ; Margaret ; Hermann and Hermann (1963,1964); and Crow and Noel (1965).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deterrence Research: Past Progress and Future Needs

Raser

1966

Journal of Peace Research

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Some Assessments and Uses of Public Opinion in Diplomacy

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus Mershon Series: Research Programs and Debates

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus Mershon Series: Research Programs and Debates

Press Freedom Under Siege: Effects of Market Forces, Government Controls and Journalism Practices

Deterrence Research: Past Progress and Future Needs

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