IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v35y1991i4p611-641.html

The Attitudinal Bases for Responsiveness to Public Opinion among American Foreign Policy Officials

Author

Listed:
  • Philip J. Powlick

    (DePauw University)

Abstract

This study examines the attitudes of American foreign policy officials toward (1) the public's sophistication on matters of foreign policy, and (2) the degree of input the public should have into policy and the appropriate level of policy responsiveness. It finds officials to be marginally more positive about the public's sophistication than has previously been thought, but finds a major difference (increase) in the degree of input that officials feel the public should have into the policy process. The result of these sets of attitudes is a form of responsiveness whereby officials factor public opinion into decisions, but then attempt to change public opinion (by “educating†the public) if opposition to a decision subsequently emerges.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip J. Powlick, 1991. "The Attitudinal Bases for Responsiveness to Public Opinion among American Foreign Policy Officials," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(4), pages 611-641, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:35:y:1991:i:4:p:611-641
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002791035004003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002791035004003
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002791035004003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Page, Benjamin I. & Shapiro, Robert Y., 1983. "Effects of Public Opinion on Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 175-190, March.
    2. Hurwitz, Jon & Peffley, Mark, 1987. "How are Foreign Policy Attitudes Structured? A Hierarchical Model," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(4), pages 1099-1120, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qian Liu & Yingying Wang & Ning Kang, 2023. "Analyzing the Influence of BRI Foreign Direct Investment on Governance: Perspective from Southeast Asian Countries," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 15(2), pages 289-305, May.
    2. Niklas Harring & Sverker C. Jagers & Simon Matti, 2017. "Public Support for Pro-Environmental Policy Measures: Examining the Impact of Personal Values and Ideology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Harald Schoen, 2007. "Personality Traits and Foreign Policy Attitudes in German Public Opinion," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 51(3), pages 408-430, June.
    4. Eivind Hoff-Elimari & Anat Bardi & Simon Matti & Kristina Östman, 2014. "Collective action problems: Disentangling possible feedback loops between government policies and the public’s value-change," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 3(1), pages 24-46, June.
    5. Miroslav Nincic, 1992. "A Sensible Public," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(4), pages 772-789, December.
    6. Ronald H. Hinckley, 1988. "Public Attitudes toward Key Foreign Policy Events," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 32(2), pages 295-318, June.
    7. David H. Bearce & Thomas R. Cook, 2018. "The first image reversed: IGO signals and mass political attitudes," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 595-619, December.
    8. Matthias Mader & Moritz Neubert & Felix Münchow & Stephanie C Hofmann & Harald Schoen & Konstantin Gavras, 2024. "Crumbling in the face of cost? How cost considerations affect public support for European security and defence cooperation," European Union Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 483-503, September.
    9. Niklas Harring & Sverker C. Jagers, 2013. "Should We Trust in Values? Explaining Public Support for Pro-Environmental Taxes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Christopher J Williams, 2016. "Issuing reasoned opinions: The effect of public attitudes towards the European Union on the usage of the 'Early Warning System'," European Union Politics, , vol. 17(3), pages 504-521, September.
    11. An, Youngeun & Lee, Youngsun & Oh, Soon-young & Lee, Jeong Youn, 2024. "How can young adults be civically engaged? The role of academic achievement standards in enhancing civic and social engagement in the case of South Korea," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    12. Jensen, Carsten & Naumann, Elias, 2016. "Increasing pressures and support for public healthcare in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 698-705.
    13. Prather, Lauren, 2024. "Ideology at the Water’s Edge: Explaining Variation in Public Support for Foreign Aid," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    14. Donald L. Jordan & Benjamin I. Page, 1992. "Shaping Foreign Policy Opinions," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(2), pages 227-241, June.
    15. Benjamin Michallet & Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & François Facchini, 2015. "Greening Up or Not? The Determinants Political Parties’ Environmental Concern: An Empirical Analysis Based on European Data (1970-2008)," Working Papers 2015.25, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    16. Liza G. Steele, 2015. "Income Inequality, Equal Opportunity, and Attitudes About Redistribution," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 444-464, June.
    17. Najam uz Zehra Gardezi & Brent S. Steel & Angela Lavado, 2020. "The Impact of Efficacy, Values, and Knowledge on Public Preferences Concerning Food–Water–Energy Policy Tradeoffs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-20, November.
    18. MARK FRANKLIN & MICHAEL MARSH & LAUREN McLAREN, 1994. "Uncorking the Bottle: Popular Opposition to European Unification in the Wake of Maastricht," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 455-472, December.
    19. Hanna Ågren & Matz Dahlberg & Eva Mörk, 2007. "Do politicians’ preferences correspond to those of the voters? An investigation of political representation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 137-162, January.
    20. Filip Beule & Haiyan Zhang, 2022. "The impact of government policy on Chinese investment locations: An analysis of the Belt and Road policy announcement, host-country agreement, and sentiment," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 194-217, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:35:y:1991:i:4:p:611-641. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.