Paying Attention to Foreign Affairs: How Public Opinion Affects Presidential Decision Making by Thomas Knecht

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-146
Author(s):  
Terrence L. Chapman

Despite increased attention to the linkages between domestic politics and international relations in political science literature over the last 20 years, considerable debate remains about how well equipped citizens are to act as informed constraints on governments or how attentive and responsive government actors are to public opinion. Debates about citizens' ability to act as a check on government behavior are not new, of course, and have a long tradition in political philosophy and in public discourse. Yet the proliferation of theories of domestic–international linkages in contemporary IR scholarship has unfortunately been accompanied by incomplete dialogue between public opinion and IR scholars and often by claims of unidirectional or unconditional causality regarding domestic constraints, elite framing and opinion leadership, citizens' informational capacities, and the role of the media. The relationship among these factors in shaping foreign policy is quite complex, however, and fortunately Thomas Knecht acknowledges this complexity and advances a conditional argument about the relationship between public attitudes and presidential decision making.

Author(s):  
Douglas C. Foyle ◽  
Douglas Van Belle

Societal factors such as public opinion, interest groups, and the media can influence foreign policy choices and behavior. To date, the public opinion and foreign policy literature has focused largely on data derived from the US, although this trend has begun to change in recent years. However, while much of the scholarly work suggests that public attitudes on foreign policy are both reasonable and structured, significant controversies exist over the public’s general influence on policy as well as the influence of elections on foreign policy. Meanwhile, the study of interest groups as a domestic source of foreign policy is dominated by two points of emphasis: ethnic groups acting as interest groups and the US case. These are most often considered together. This ethnic interest group literature stands largely apart from the literature on trade interest groups, which takes its inspiration from the economics literature. Finally, two aspects of media are specifically relevant to media and domestic sources of foreign policy. The first is the way the media serve as an arena of domestic political competition within democracies, and the second is the communicative role that media play in the formation of public opinions that are specific to and critical to foreign policy decision making.


Author(s):  
Narendra Kumar

It is a well-known fact that the media plays a very crucial role in framing public opinion and it can influence the decision-making process as well as the future of a country. Despite being divided on the lines of caste, religion and language India is lagging its diversity in newsrooms all over the country. The essence of religion has been changed with space and time and through modern influences. Religion plays an important role in the lives of people. So, how religion becomes politicized concept? In other words, how to understand politicization of religion? The essence of religion varies from time to time, depends on the influence of political circumstances. Religion is a powerful phenomenon which is ideologically constructed and institutionalized for social domination. The main concern is that how the relationship between religion and politics is reflected through the media.  


Author(s):  
Steven Hurst

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Smekal ◽  
Jaroslav Benák ◽  
Monika Hanych ◽  
Ladislav Vyhnánek ◽  
Štěpán Janků

The book studies other than purely legal factors that influence the Czech Constitutional Court judges in their decision-making. The publication is inspired by foreign models of judicial decision-making and discusses their applicability in the Czech environment. More specifically, it focuses, for example, on the influence of the judge’s personality, collegiality, strategic decision-making or the impact of public opinion and the media. The book is based mainly on interviews with current constitutional judges.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 503
Author(s):  
Aloysius Ranggabumi Nuswantoro

Conflict occurs between two or more parties with different interests. Media related to conflict. The ability of the media to influence public opinion is the biggest element in the relationship between media with conflict. The media in this context can be a party that sparked the conflict but could also act as resolutor conflict. Media as a provocateur when play became an arm of one of the conflicting parties, while a conciliator conflict when showing neutrality and information that tends to peace (peace narrative). And theoretical studies should be conducted searches empirical facts on this subject, to clarify the position, the position and role of media in conflict situations. The results can also be used to see the extent to which the media contribute to creating conditions of public space and democratic deliberative. Against this, the choice to stick with journalism be the most appropriate choice for the media in an effort to maintain its position as an agent of democracy in society.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Obaid Said Al- Shaqsi

This survey study aimed at investigating the relationship between Omani media management of the 2007 Gono cyclone crisis and people’s behavioral responses and their attitudes towards media performance. The study was founded on the general principles of the Situational Crisis Communication theory and Stakeholders theory. A convenient sample of 140 affected individuals from three different places in Oman participated in this study. The results indicated that 96% of the informants followed Omani media warnings about the cyclone. The results also showed a positive correlation between respondents’ belief that the media have provided them with swift and transparent messages and addressed their interests and emotional concerns on one hand, and adopting positive behavioral responses, on the other hand. Overall, respondents were satisfied with Omani media performance during the different stages of the cyclone crisis. 


Author(s):  
Stephen Winkler

AbstractPolitical leaders across Africa frequently accuse the media of promoting homosexuality, while activists often use the media to promote pro-LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) narratives. Despite extensive research on how the media affects public opinion, including studies that show how exposure to certain information can increase support of LGBTQs, there is virtually no research on how the media influences attitudes towards LGBTQs across Africa. This study develops a theory that accounts for actors' mixed approach to the media and shows how different types of media create distinct effects on public opinion of LGBTQs. Specifically, the study finds that radio and television have no, or a negative, significant effect on pro-gay attitudes, whereas individuals who consume more newspapers, internet or social media are significantly more likely to support LGBTQs (by approximately 2 to 4 per cent). The author argues that these differential effects are conditional on censorship of queer representation from certain mediums. The analysis confirms that the results are not driven by selection effects, and that the relationship is unique to LGBTQ support but not other social attitudes. The results have important implications, especially given the growing politicization of same-sex relations and changing media consumption habits across Africa.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 209-230
Author(s):  
Mahalley D. Allen ◽  
Donald P. Haider-Markel

Many scholars have examined the relationship between public opinion and the U.S. Supreme Court, but most researchers have often failed to take into account the fact that the press mediates this relationship. Due to the public’s lack of independent knowledge about Supreme Court decisions, the media has the potential to play an influential role in the communication and interpretation of Supreme Court decisions. In this article, we examine the relationship between the Supreme Court, the media, and public opinion. First, we examine whether increased public tolerance on gay and lesbian issues has resulted in increased media coverage of gay-related cases before the Supreme Court. Second, we examine how media coverage of the Court’s 2003 decision to strike down state sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas may have been associated with decreased public support for gay and lesbian civil rights. Our analysis suggests that increased support for gay and lesbian civil rights may have lead to increased media attention to the Lawrence case and that the tone of this coverage may have subsequently resulted in an observed decrease in support for gay and lesbian civil rights following the Court’s decision. We also suggest that the release of a highly critical dissenting opinion by the Court in the case may have encouraged negative media coverage and the resulting shift in public opinion. Our research has broad implications for media coverage of Supreme Court decisions.


Author(s):  
Angeliki Gazi ◽  
Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou

The research here focuses on the relationship between women and media organisations in Greece and Cyprus. Our aim is to study the professional identity of women in the context of media organisations as well as the progress toward gender equality in Greek and Cypriot media organisations compared to the rest of Europe. Greece and, to a greater extent, Cyprus are societies in which the preservation and reproduction of the structure of the family constitutes the primary mechanism for socialization and professional accomplishment, much more than in other countries of central and northern Europe. The reported results are part of a more broadly focused EIGE Report entitled “Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organizations,” which reviews the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) in Member States. The BPfA, in turn, introduces the first indicators for measuring the progress of gender equality for women in the media. The media sectors both in Greece and Cyprus continue to be male-dominated. Women occupy only a small percentage of decision-making posts in media organisations. Moreover, there is a significant lack of gender-related policies and monitoring mechanisms in the media organisations and the countries themselves.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Eid

Terrorism today is one of the most frequent global severe stress situations. The advanced and widespread new media and information technologies as well as modern tactics of terrorism make the public of any nation in exposure, directly and indirectly, to uncertain potential acts of terrorism. The relationship between terrorists and media personnel has grown widely influential, and has been described recently by the term terroredia, in which the public is the main target of both terrorism and the media. Both responsibility and rationality are fundamental weights for the effectiveness of risk communication during times of terrorism. This paper critically analyzes how policymakers in several Western countries have communicated to the public, through the media, the risk of terrorist attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against their individuals and societies. The study uncovers that rationality and responsibility are lacking in Western media decision-making regarding the risk of ISIL's potential activities.


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