Public Opinion, Party Politics and Alliance: The Influence of Domestic Politics on Japan’s Reliance on the U. S. Nuclear Umbrella, 1964–8

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 774-793
Author(s):  
Akira Kurosaki
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Party Politics

Public Opinion, Party Politics, and the Welfare State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Lindvall ◽  
David Rueda
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Party System ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter examines the long-run relationship between public opinion, party politics, and the welfare state. It argues that when large parties receive a clear signal concerning the median voter’s position on the welfare state, vote-seeking motivations dominate and the large parties in the party system converge on the position of the median voter. When the position of the median voter is more difficult to discern, however, policy-seeking motivations dominate, and party positions diverge. This argument implies that the effects of government partisanship on welfare state policy are more ambiguous than generally understood. The countries covered in the chapter are Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom (going back to the 1960s). The number of observations is (necessarily) limited, but the diverse cases illustrate a common electoral dynamic centered around the position of the median voter.

Western Integration vs. Reunification? Analyzing the Polls of the 1950s

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Kruke
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Social Research ◽  
German State ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
German Question ◽  
The 1950S

From the beginning of the West German state, a lot of public opinion polling was done on the German question. The findings have been scrutinized carefully from the 1950s onward, but polls have always been taken at face value, as a mirror of society. In this analysis, polls are treated rather as an observation technique of empirical social research that composes a certain image of society and its public opinion. The entanglement of domestic and international politics is analyzed with respect to the use of surveys that were done around the two topics of Western integration and reunification that pinpoint the “functional entanglement” of domestic and international politics. The net of polling questions spun around these two terms constituted a complex setting for political actors. During the 1950s, surveys probed and ranked the fears and anxieties that characterized West Germans and helped to construct a certain kind of atmosphere that can be described as “Cold War angst.” These findings were taken as the basis for dealing with the dilemma of Germany caught between reunification and Western integration. The data and interpretations were converted into “security” as the overarching frame for international and domestic politics by the conservative government that lasted until the early 1960s.

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
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Government Behavior ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

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.

Conclusion: ‘Female Politicians’?

2019 ◽  
pp. 172-180
Author(s):  
Jennifer Davey
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
Informal Politics ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
High Politics

This conclusion explores what Mary’s life in politics might tell us about political life in Victorian Britain. It argues that Mary’s life illuminates particular aspects of Victorian political culture. In particular, it stresses the importance of incorporating informal political processes into the construction of high political narratives. It suggests that focusing on the activities of informal politics might offer new insights into familiar preoccupations of historians of high politics: of parliamentary dynamics, of party politics, of civil servants, and of public opinion.

14. Europeanization, Euroscepticism, and Politicization in Party Politics

2020 ◽  
pp. 331-353
Author(s):  
Paul Taggart
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Member States ◽  
History Of ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Eu

The development of European integration has meant that member states have experienced Europeanization and as a consequence the EU has become a more politicized issue in domestic politics. Politicization has come over time and as a consequence of the decline of a permissive consensus and takes some very different forms. The chapter considers the place of the domestic politicization of European integration in theories of European integration and then reviews different periods of the history of European integration, highlighting the growing phenomena of Europeanization and politicization. The chapter then looks at Euroscepticism and its meaning and different forms and identifying which parties can currently be identified as Eurosceptic and what issues Euroscepticism blends with in different member states. The chapter then offers a typology for understanding the different ways in which the politicization of European integration plays out in the party systems of member states.

Public Opinion in European Union Politics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
European Project ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

Public contestation regarding European integration is becoming increasingly important for the future of the European project. While traditionally European Union (EU) scholars deemed public opinion of minor importance for the process of European integration, public support and scepticism is now seen as crucial for the survival of the European project. One important reason for this change in perspective is the increasing politicization of the EU in domestic politics. In recent years, a burgeoning literature on public contestation concerning European integration has developed. Students of public opinion in the EU have primarily focused their attention on the explanations of fluctuations in support and scepticism. This work stresses both interest- and identity-based explanations showing that support for European integration increases with skill levels and more inclusive identities. Less attention has been given to the conceptualization of the precise nature of public opinion and its role in EU politics. When it comes to the politicization of European integration and its effects on public opinion, many scholarly contributions have aimed to explore the conditions under which EU attitudes affect voting behavior in elections and referendums. Yet, the way in which public opinion affects policy making and responsiveness at the EU level has received much less scholarly attention. This suggests that more work needs to be undertaken to understand the conditions under which public contestation of the EU constrains the room to maneuver of domestic and European elites at the EU level, and the extent to which it poses a challenge to, or opportunity for, further integrative steps in Europe. Only by gaining a better understanding about the ways public opinion limits the actions of domestic and European elites or not at the EU level, will scholars be able to make predictions about how public opinion might affect the future of the European project.

Reforming Regional Governance in East Central Europe: Europeanization or Domestic Politics as Usual?

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor O’Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Governance Reform ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
East Central European

In recent years, a number of East Central European (ECE) governments have undertaken to radically alter the territorial structures of their public administration. Some have suggested that this development represents the growing Europeanization of ECE politics, in particular the role of the European Union. This article questions that view by examining the crucial role of domestic party politics in the enactment and implementation of regional governance reform. It does so through a close comparison of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document