Weighing Lives in War: How National Identity Influences American Public Opinion about Foreign Civilian and Compatriot Fatalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-43
Author(s):  
Scott D Sagan ◽  
Benjamin A Valentino
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Military Operation ◽  
International Context ◽  
Us Military ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Collateral Harm ◽  
Do So

Abstract This article explores how the American public weighs tradeoffs between foreign and compatriot fatalities during war. This focus provides an important window into the meaning and significance of citizenship and national identity and, in turn, the most fateful consequences of inclusion and exclusion in the international context. To examine these attitudes, we conducted an original survey experiment asking subjects to consider a fictional US military operation in Afghanistan. We find that: (1) Americans are significantly more willing to accept the collateral deaths of foreign civilians as compared to American civilians in operations aiming to destroy important military targets; (2) Americans are less willing to risk the lives of American soldiers to minimize collateral harm to foreign civilians as compared to American civilians; (3) Americans who express relatively more favorable views of the United States compared to other nations are more willing to accept foreign collateral deaths in US military operations; and (4) Americans are more willing to accept Afghan civilian collateral deaths than those of citizens from a neutral state, such as India. Many Americans recognize that placing a much higher value on compatriot lives over foreign lives is morally problematic, but choose to do so anyway.

Atomic Aversion: Experimental Evidence on Taboos, Traditions, and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARYL G. PRESS ◽  
SCOTT D. SAGAN ◽  
BENJAMIN A. VALENTINO
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
The Public ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
Do So

How strong are normative prohibitions on state behavior? We examine this question by analyzing anti-nuclear norms, sometimes called the “nuclear taboo,” using an original survey experiment to evaluate American attitudes regarding nuclear use. We find that the public has only a weak aversion to using nuclear weapons and that this aversion has few characteristics of an “unthinkable” behavior or taboo. Instead, public attitudes about whether to use nuclear weapons are driven largely by consequentialist considerations of military utility. Americans’ willingness to use nuclear weapons increases dramatically when nuclear weapons provide advantages over conventional weapons in destroying critical targets. Americans who oppose the use of nuclear weapons seem to do so primarily for fear of setting a negative precedent that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons by other states against the United States or its allies in the future.

Intervening in Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The Causal Effects of Factual Information on Attitudes toward Immigration

2021 ◽  
Vol 697 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-191
Author(s):  
Maria Abascal ◽  
Tiffany J. Huang ◽  
Van C. Tran
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Social Cognitions ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Factual Information ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Contrast Information ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigration

If preferences on immigration policy respond to facts, widespread misinformation poses an obstacle to consensus. Does factual information about immigration indeed affect policy preferences? Are beliefs about immigration’s societal impact the mechanism through which factual information affects support for increased immigration? To address these questions, we conducted an original survey experiment, in which we presented a nationally representative sample of 2,049 Americans living in the United States with facts about immigrants’ English acquisition and immigrants’ impact on crime, jobs, and taxes—four domains with common misperceptions. Three of these factual domains (immigration’s impact on crime, jobs, and taxes) raise overall support for increased immigration. These facts also affect beliefs that are directly relevant to that information. Moreover, those beliefs mediate the effect of factual information on support for increased immigration. By contrast, information about English acquisition affects neither policy preferences nor beliefs about immigration’s impact. Facts can leverage social cognitions to change policy preferences.

POLAND’S TROOP CONTRIBUTIONS TO US-LED MILITARY OPERATIONS AS A SECURITY POLICYINSTRUMENT

2017 ◽  
Vol 186 (4) ◽  
pp. 70-87
Author(s):  
Mikołaj KUGLER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Military Operation ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military

This article addresses the issue of Poland's troop contributions to US-led military operations, which for Poland constituted a salient instrument for attaining its security policy goals. It is argued that the United States of America played a pivotal role in Poland’s security policy, and by providing it with active support for the military operations in which the US exercised political and/or military leadership, Poland hoped to advance its security agenda. This assumption stemmed from America’s leading role in the global system and a conviction that it could influence its development in the way suiting the Polish interest. The article is in four parts. First, it examines the significance of foreign deployments as an instrument for attaining Poland’s security policy goals. Next, it explains the role the United States was assigned in Poland’s security policy. After that, it recounts the operations of Polish military contingents in US-led allied and coalition military operations. Finally, it discusses whether and how the engagement in those operations contributed to enhancing Poland’s security. The article embraces the period from the first military operation to which Poland deployed troops following the collapse of the Communist bloc in 1991 to the termination of the ISAF operation, which has had the largest Polish presence to date, in 2014. Keywords:

scholarly journals Why Local Party Leaders Don't Support Nominating Centrists

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Broockman ◽  
Nicholas Carnes ◽  
Melody Crowder-Meyer ◽  
Christopher Skovron
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Elections ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Local Party ◽  
Do So

AbstractWould giving party leaders more influence in primary elections in the United States decrease elite polarization? Some scholars have argued that political party leaders tend to support centrist candidates in the hopes of winning general elections. In contrast, the authors argue that many local party leaders – especially Republicans – may not believe that centrists perform better in elections and therefore may not support nominating them. They test this argument using data from an original survey of 1,118 county-level party leaders. In experiments, they find that local party leaders most prefer nominating candidates who are similar to typical co-partisans, not centrists. Moreover, given the choice between a more centrist and more extreme candidate, they strongly prefer extremists: Democrats do so by about 2 to 1 and Republicans by 10 to 1. Likewise, in open-ended questions, Democratic Party leaders are twice as likely to say they look for extreme candidates relative to centrists; Republican Party leaders are five times as likely. Potentially driving these partisan differences, Republican leaders are especially likely to believe that extremists can win general elections and overestimate the electorate's conservatism by double digits.

scholarly journals Tinjauan Hukum Humaniter Internasional dalam Operasi Enduring Freedom Amerika Serikat ke Afghanistan dan Peran International Criminal Court (ICC)

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Reno Ismadi ◽  
Awatar Bayu Putranto ◽  
Tiffany Setyo Pratiwi
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military

The US military invasion to Afghanistan took place when the War on Terror declared by the United States after the incident in September, 2001 at World Trade Center. One of the military operations in this invasion was called Enduring Freedom. This research will discuss the violations committed by America in the invasion of Afghanistan, particularly during the Enduring Freedom operation, which it was reviewed through Geneva Law and The Rome Statute. The author using literature studies with qualitative methods. The author found that the violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and The Rome Statute Article 8 and 11 were carried out by America during the deliberate Enduring Freedom Operation. The violation was proven but the International Criminal Court (ICC) did nothing.

Adaptation under Fire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Barno ◽  
Nora Bensahel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Organizations ◽  
Us Military ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Us ◽  
Precise Shape ◽  
The Face ◽  
Do So

Adaptation under Fire looks at the essential importance of military adaptation in winning wars. Every military must prepare for future wars despite inevitably having little confidence about the precise shape that those wars will take. As former US secretary of defense Robert Gates once noted, the United States has a perfect record in predicting the next war: “We have never once gotten it right.” Despite this uncertainty, military organizations still must make choices. They must determine the nature of doctrine they will need to fight effectively, the type of weaponry and equipment they must procure to defeat their potential foe, and the kind of leaders they must select and develop to guide the force to victory. Since the US military has global security responsibilities, it will have to make these choices without knowing when, where, or how the next war will unfold, or even who the enemy may be. It will need to adapt quickly and successfully in the face of the unexpected in order to prevail. The book starts by providing a framework for understanding adaptation and includes several historical examples of success and failure. The second part examines US military adaptation during the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and explains why certain forms of adaptation have proven so problematic. The final part argues that the US military must become more adaptable in order to successfully address the fast-changing security challenges of the 21st century, and concludes with some recommendations on how it should do so.

scholarly journals Conceptions of National Identity and Ambivalence towards Immigration

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Emmy Lindstam ◽  
Matthias Mader ◽  
Harald Schoen
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Cultural Terms ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
National Membership ◽  
Political Opinions ◽  
Do So

National identities are often conceived of as factors that lend structure and stability to citizens’ political opinions on issues such as immigration. While citizens who define national membership in ethno-cultural terms are less likely to support immigration, those with a civic conception are more likely to do so. The authors propose that defining national identity along both ethno-cultural and civic lines may give rise to conflicting considerations, leading people to experience ambivalence, implying that national identities may serve less as a stabilizing force than suggested by previous research. Findings from heterogeneous choice models and a unique survey experiment show that German citizens with mixed conceptions of national identity had more variable and more malleable opinions than individuals with ideal-type conceptions during the 2015/2016 European refugee crisis. The findings point to an identity-based source of ambivalence and extend current understandings of how people form attitudes towards immigration.

scholarly journals Sexual Predators in Contest for Public Office: How the American Electorate Responds to News of Allegations of Candidates Committing Sexual Assault and Harassment

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992199533
Author(s):  
Stephanie Stark ◽  
Sofía Collignon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Political Campaign ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Sexual Predators ◽  
Candidate Characteristics ◽  
Voter Choice ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Do So

Candidate characteristics have an important impact on voter choice, and scandals are found to negatively impact a political campaign. Yet the literature, with its focus on scandals such as financial and (consensual) affairs, has failed to look into how allegations of sexual assault and harassment may impact electability. This study analyzes the effect that allegations of sexual assault or harassment have on the electoral success of American politicians. Using an original survey experiment, we find that, on average, American citizens are less likely to support a candidate accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment. However, not all voters do so to the same magnitude. We find that Democrats are significantly less likely to support a candidate that faces such allegations. Republicans do not strongly penalize candidates facing allegations of sexual assault or harassment, especially if the candidate is identified as a Republican. We analyze open-ended survey responses to offer an explanation for such variation: a propensity to disbelieve women who speak out about sexual assault and harassment explains variations in why some voters may not change their opinion of a candidate based on an allegation.

scholarly journals Race, crime, and emotions

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 205316801879533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille D. Burge ◽  
Gbemende Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Violent Crime ◽  
Black People ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Original Survey

Experimental research on racial attitudes examines how Whites’ stereotypes of Black Americans shape their attitudes about the death penalty, violent crime, and other punitive measures. Marginally discussed in the race-to-crime literature are Blacks’ perceptions of retribution and justice. We fill this void by using an original survey experiment of 900 Black Americans to examine how exposure to intra- and- intergroup violent crime shapes their policy attitudes and emotional reactions to crime. We find that Black Americans are more likely to support increased prison sentences for violent crimes when the perpetrator is White and the victim is Black, and reduced sentences for “Black-on-Black” crime. Our analyses further reveal that Black people express higher levels of anger when the victim is Black and the perpetrator is White; levels of shame and anger also increase in instances of Black-on-Black crime. Given current race relations in the United States, we conclude by speculating about how these emotional reactions might shape one’s willingness to participate in the political arena.

Proud to be an American?: The Changing Relationship of National Pride and Identity

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. McDaniel ◽  
Irfan Nooruddin ◽  
Allyson F. Shortle
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Group Identification ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
National Pride ◽  
American National Identity ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Relationship Of

AbstractThe attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 and subsequent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq created a sharp increase in expressions of national pride and the invocation of “nation” in political discourse. Using the 1996 and 2004 General Social Surveys, we document these changing patterns of national pride, and ask how they affect conceptions of national identity. We report three main findings. First, the data corroborate the conventional wisdom that there was a greater expression of national pride than before September 11, 2001. Second, conceptions of American national identity became more nativist. Finally, the conventionally accepted distinction between patriots and nationalists has shrunk; patriots, like nationalists, are more likely to express nativist conceptions of national identity during a time of threat than they were pre-9/11. Our findings have important implications for research on group identification and national identity formation.

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