Military Alliances and Public Support for War

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tomz ◽  
Jessica L P Weeks
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Military Alliances ◽  
Audience Costs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Willingness To Intervene ◽  
Reputational Costs

Abstract How do military alliances affect public support for war to defend victims of aggression? We offer the first experimental evidence on this fundamental question. Our experiments revealed that alliance commitments greatly increased the American public's willingness to intervene abroad. Alliances shaped public opinion by increasing public fears about the reputational costs of nonintervention and by heightening the perceived moral obligation to intervene out of concerns for fairness and loyalty. Finally, although alliances swayed public opinion across a wide range of circumstances, they made the biggest difference when the costs of intervention were high, the stakes of intervention were low, and the country needing aid was not a democracy. Thus, alliances can create pressure for war even when honoring the commitment would be extremely inconvenient, which could help explain why democratic allies tend to be so reliable. These findings shed new light on the consequences of alliances and other international legal commitments, the role of morality in foreign policy, and ongoing debates about domestic audience costs.

Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
Novel Theory ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. At no time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so insecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault by Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. This book examines the role of public opinion in the European integration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion that stresses the deep interconnectedness between people’s views about European and national politics. It suggests that public opinion cannot simply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather that it consists of different types. This is important because these types coincide with fundamentally different views about the way the EU should be reformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types also have very different consequences for behaviour in elections and referendums. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because the Eurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. As the economic and political fates of member states have diverged, people’s experiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systems have also grown further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences that this book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Euroscepticism unlikely to be successful.

Ethics, National Sovereignty and the Control of Immigration

1996 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myron Weiner
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Human Right ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Migration Policies ◽  
Open Borders ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the debate as to whether migration is a basic human right or if the claims of outsiders are superseded by the principle of national sovereignty – the moral obligation of states to do the best for their own citizens. In evaluating migration and refugees it focuses on issues of open borders, migration selectivity, the capacity of sovereign states to control entry, the claims of refugees, the relationship between sovereignty and justifiable intervention, and the role of public opinion and morals throughout migration policies.

Public Opinion and Public Policy: Heroin and Other Opioids

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1163-1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Kyle Cook ◽  
Henry H. Brownstein
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Prescription Opioid ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complicated Situation ◽  
Prescription Opioid Abuse

Virginia, much like other states, has experienced unprecedented rates of heroin and prescription opioid abuse, overdoses, and deaths. Given the wide range of competing voices concerning drug policy and the complicated situation of the contemporary opioid epidemic, this study examines whether public opinion is reflected in public policy toward illicit involvement with opioids. The 2016 Commonwealth Public Policy Survey, a statewide representative sample of 1,000 Virginia residents, found that Virginians are supportive of treatment over arrest for heroin and prescription pill abusers and factors such as race, education, and political affiliation are predictive of support for treatment over arrest. More importantly, the results of this poll converge with legislative policies of the 2017 General Assembly, supporting the notion that public support can have an influence on the policymaking process. Policy implications are discussed.

Public Opinion and Crisis Behavior in a Nuclearized South Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Clary ◽  
Sameer Lalwani ◽  
Niloufer Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Audience Costs ◽  
Target States ◽  
Crisis Behavior

Abstract Research on public opinion and crisis behavior has focused largely on pressures felt by leaders who have initiated a crisis, not on leaders in target states responding to adversary provocation. Our survey experiment involving 1,823 respondents in Punjab, Pakistan, finds public support for escalating rather than de-escalating in response to such provocation. It shows how public pressures can encourage conflict even in instances where a leader has engaged in no prior effort to generate audience costs following crisis onset. Survey respondents were more likely to support escalatory decisions if they were made by a military, rather than civilian, leader, although we do not find that military leaders receive more support in de-escalatory decisions. Finally, while we demonstrate that leaders can mitigate the costs of de-escalating by highlighting the dangers of conflict, they still incur opportunity costs in foregone public support when they opt to de-escalate rather than escalate a crisis.

Public opinion in the management of social processes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egor Bunov ◽  
Elena Tihonova
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Promising Direction ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Functional Concept

The monograph is devoted to the analysis of the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of the place and role of public opinion in the management of social processes in modern society. The author's structural and functional concept of public opinion occupies a central place in the work. The article presents a large theoretical material based on the results of the author's research, which allows us to formulate and justify a number of new scientific positions that open up a promising direction in the study of public opinion issues in the context of the sociology of management. It is intended for a wide range of specialists in the field of management sociology, heads of sociological services, teachers, postgraduates, students, and anyone interested in public opinion and its role in the life of modern society.

Public Opinion and Setting the Agenda on the U.S. Supreme Court

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda C. Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Public Support ◽  
American People ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
First Case ◽  
Setting Process ◽  
The U.S

Arguably the most influential power the U.S. Supreme Court has is the power to choose which cases to decide. This power allows the nation’s only unelected branch of government to choose either to weigh in on key political controversies or avoid them completely. Here, I take one of the first case-level looks at the role of public opinion in the Court’s agenda-setting process. I argue justices vote to hear cases when they are likely to agree with public opinion on the outcome and eschew cases when they are out of step with the American people. However, the effect of public opinion depends on the political environment, especially on the level of public support the Court enjoys, the salience of the issue, and the case’s legal importance.

Partisan Predispositions and Public Support for Making It Easier to Vote

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Bowler ◽  
Todd Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Public Support ◽  
State Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Low Visibility ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
Rules Changes

Public opinion on high-visibility election rules can be expected to reflect elite-level party divisions. We explain how partisanship affects support for, and opposition to, low-visibility convenience voting reforms. We find state-level factors such as quality of polling-place voting and party polarization explain some variance in support. However, individual-level factors are paramount. Attitudes about election reforms are strongly conditioned by partisan predispositions, with Democrats more supportive and Republicans more opposed. In addition, we find younger people, those with lower incomes, nonvoters, and people with disabilities were more likely to support proposals that might make voting easier. Although this cannot demonstrate that increased convenience voting would alter the composition of the electorate, it shows that, above and beyond partisanship, people who faced greater barriers to voting were most supportive of making voting easier. However, the dominant role of partisan predispositions suggests limits to rules changes that might make voting easier.

scholarly journals Catherine E. de Vries: Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
Jan Kovář
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
Novel Theory ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. At no time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so insecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault by Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. This book examines the role of public opinion in the European integration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion that stresses the deep interconnectedness between people’s views about European and national politics. It suggests that public opinion cannot simply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather that it consists of different types. This is important because these types coincide with fundamentally different views about the way the EU should be reformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types also have very different consequences for behaviour in elections and referendums. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because the Eurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. As the economic and political fates of member states have diverged, people’s experiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systems have also grown further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences that this book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Euroscepticism unlikely to be successful.

Economic ‘Stagflation’ and Public Support for the Political System

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Stephen Weatherford
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Index Level

Declining trust in politicians and political institutions is one of the most dramatic and well-documented trends in American public opinion. Confidence in religious, educational and other institutions has also waned, but emphasis has focused on diminished political trust, both because it may summarize a wide range of diffuse grievances and because it might indicate an increased potential for disruptive action, political violence and instability. In the decade from 1968 to 1978, the level of political trust (measured by the conventional five-item CPS/NES index) was halved, the proportion of the public expressing moderate or high levels of trust falling from 64 to 33 per cent. The greatest decline in the index level (a drop of 14 points) occurred between 1972 and 1974.

Supervisors' abuse of customers: The moderating role of moral obligation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Greenbaum ◽  
Mary Bardes ◽  
David M. Mayer ◽  
Manuela Priesemuth
Keyword(s):  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Moderating Role
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