The President and the Political Use of Force
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3375935 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Charles W Ostrom (Michigan State University), Brian L Job (0000-0002-7492-595X, University of Minnesota) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 541-566 |
| Publication date | 1986-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1958273 |
| OpenAlex | W2113607642 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 315 |
| References cited | 21 |
Throughout the post-World War II period the president has been called upon to make decisions concerning the use of force as a political instrument. The explanation that is offered is based upon a characterization of the president as a cybernetic human decision maker facing limitations. These limitations, in conjunction with the complexity of the environment, lead presidents to develop and use a relatively simple decision rule. The dependent variable, which is the probability of the use of force at any point in time, is explained in terms of enduring and essential concerns, which are operationalized as coming from the international, domestic, and personal environments. Data are taken from Blechman and Kaplan'sForce Without War. On the basis of our estimation and evaluation, presidential decisions to use force are based on factors in all three arenas
Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Operationalization · Point (geometry · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Presidential system · Simple (philosophy · Use of force · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Mathematics · Military History and Strategy
The Psychological Underpinnings of Political Behavior
The Myth of Presidential Representation
Defining the American Public Opinion/Foreign Policy Nexus
Economic conditions and terrorism
The Decision Not to Use Force at Dien Bien Phu
The dual economy and Arab-Israeli use of force
Congress, Presidential Approval, and U.S. Dispute Initiation
Domestic Political Systems and War Proneness
Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making
Neoclassical realism and the national interest
Leading ladies
Por qué Estados Unidos asesinó al general Qassem Soleimani
Abiy’s legitimacy crisis and the Northern armed conflict
Partisanship, Macroeconomic Policy, and U.S. Uses of Force, 1949-1994
Congressional Opposition, the Economy, and U.S. Dispute Initiation, 1946-2000
Leaders and International Conflict
Media Systems and Violent Conflicts
Climate Shocks and Sino-nomadic Conflict
Conditional Humanitarianism
Queens
Reassessing Gendered Reactions to Terrorist Attacks
Explaining US unilateral military intervention in civil conflicts
Testing Structural Explanations for U.S. Military Intervention
Playing the Ethnic Card
Presidential use of diversionary drone force and public support
Domestic turmoil and diversionary hypothesis
The tactics of foreign policy agenda-setting
Superpower Dispute Initiation
The Persistence of US Conflict Behavior
Repress or Respect? Precarious Leadership, Poor Economy and Labor Protection
Do Hawks and Doves Deliver? The Words and Deeds of Foreign Policy in Democracies
Rally around All the Flags
Presidents, Public Opinion, and Diversionary Behavior
How Democracies Keep the Peace
Presidential Personality
The Domestic Politics of Humanitarian Intervention
Comfort to Our Adversaries”? Partisan Ideology, Domestic Vulnerability, and Strategic Targeting
Diversionary Incentives, Rally Effects, and Crisis Bargaining
Treaty-Making and Partisan Politics
Beyond the Water’s Edge
Domestic Political Problems and the Uneven Contenders Paradox
Presidential Risk Propensity and Intervention in Interstate Conflicts
Backfire
Foreign Policy Orientation, Strategic Interaction, and the Initiation of International Crises
Leaders' Cognitive Complexity, Distrust, and the Diversionary Use of Force
Third Parties and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Why Not Guns and Butter
Broadening the Debate about War
Predicting a State?s Foreign Policy
Diversionary Dragons, or “Talking Tough in Taipei”
Loss Aversion and Risk-Seeking in Korea–japan Relations
The Effects of Economic Crisis, Domestic Discord, and State Efficacy on the Decision to Initiate Interstate Conflict
When Does the United States Intervene Militarily for Humanitarian Reasons
Presidential Power and Congressional Acquiescence in the “War” on Terrorism
A Two-Way Street on Iraq
Explaining and Forecasting Leaders' Decisions
U.S. Policy toward Israel, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia
Mapping Conflict Research
France’s militarized interstate disputes
US Presidential popularity and opportunities to coerce North Korea
Democracy and diversionary incentives in Japan-South Korea disputes
The Internationalization of Ethnic Conflict
The Poliheuristic Research Program
Contesting counter-terrorism
US Domestic Politics and International Cooperation, 1953–1998
The Domestic Fruits of Diplomacy
Explaining the pre-election peace
The Impact of Treasury Yields on US Presidential Approval, 1960–2010
U.S. Domestic Vulnerability and the Supply of Third-Party Mediation
George Bush and the Costs of High Popularity
The Empire Strikes Back
Use of force and civil–military relations in Russia
Cheap talk, costly talk, crazy talk
Opportunities and Presidential Uses of Force
Rallies and the “First Image”
Presidential political ambition and US foreign conflict behavior, 1816–2010
Success Breeds Success? War Outcomes, Domestic Opposition, and Elections
State Power, Linkage Mechanisms, and Diversion against Nonrivals
Foreign Policy Determinants
Diversionary conflict
Contentious Issues as Opportunities for Diversionary Behavior
Domestic diversion
An Economic Model of Terrorism
Force and Influence in International Crises
Responsibility and the Diversionary Use of Force
The domestic consequences of international over-cooperation
Introduction to special issue
Presidents on the cycle
Modeling the President's Security Agenda
Going Global
How Public Opinion Constrains the Use of Force
When Political Gridlock Reigns in Presidential Foreign Policy
Lame‐Duck Foreign Policy
Pontificating About Moe's Pontifications
Prior Experience Predicts Presidential Performance
Political Party and Presidential Decisions to Use Force
Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam, and Public Opinion
What Presidents Talk about
U.S. Presidents and the Use of Economic Sanctions
Don't Tread on Me
The irony of Vietnam
Crisis Escalation War
Between Peace and War
Linear Probability, Logit, and Probit Models
Essence of Decision
Defending the National Interest
Conflict Among Nations
Political Control of the Economy
A History of Soviet Air Power
A statistical model for the analysis of ordinal level dependent variables
A History of Soviet Air Power
U.S. Support for Foreign Governments
A Reactive Linkage Model of the U.S. Defense Expenditure Policymaking Process
Strategy Choices of Foreign Policy Decision Makers
The Guns of November
Geographic Proximity and Foreign Military Intervention
Law and Power in Military Intervention
Promise and Performance
The Irony of Vietnam
| Unique citing works | 315 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7,68 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2026 (42) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 315 |