Cold War, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy Spending Decisions
Dynamic Representation by Congress and the President
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6182785 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel G Cox, Daniel Cox (0000-0002-5092-4370, Missouri Western State University), Diane L Duffin (University of Nebraska at Kearney) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 29-51 |
| Publication date | 2008-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Congress & the Presidency (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0734-3469 • E-ISSN: 1944-1053 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07343460809507650 |
| OpenAlex | W1992880040 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 33 |
Conventional wisdom before the Vietnam War held that public opinion exerted no influence on U.S. foreign policy decisions. Scholars working in Vietnam's aftermath found episodic influence of public opinion on foreign policy, but missing in our understanding were longitudinal examinations of public opinion's influence on foreign policy. A number of post-Vietnam scholars subsequently revealed a long-term relationship between public opinion and defense spending. This study extends that work by analyzing responsiveness to public opinion in different foreign policy arenas by different government institutions, and by accounting for a critical variable not relevant in most previous studies: the end of the cold war. We construct a model explaining the influences of public opinion and the cold war on spending proposals for defense and foreign economic aid by the presidency, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both public opinion and the end of the cold war exert direct influence on defense spending proposals by the presidency, while the Senate and the House respond primarily to public opinion inputs and the partisan composition of the Senate. In the case of foreign economic aid, the cold war's end gives occasion for increasing spending proposals, contrary to the public's expectation that the end of the cold war minimized the need for the U.S. to provide foreign economic assistance
Cold war · Economics · Foreign policy · Government (linguistics · Government spending · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Public opinion · Representation (politics · Welfare · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
Controlling the Sword
Divided we govern
The American people and foreign policy
The Public's Impact on Foreign Policy, by Bernard C. Cohen
Foreign Aid for a New World Order
Modeling U.S. Budgetary and Fiscal Policy Outcomes
Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy
Are There Two Presidencies? Yes, But Only for Republicans
Toward an Understanding of "Rally" Effects
A Report
Explorations in Public Opinion-Presidential Power Linkages
Economics, politics, and the cycle of presidential popularity
Bicameralism and Budget Deficits
Foreign Policy and the Rational Public
Rationality and non-rationality of international attitudes
The Pretty Prudent Public
Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
Divestment, investment sanctions, and disinvestment
Democracy and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery
Dynamics of Representation
The Two Presidencies
Redesigning Foreign Aid
Don't Tread on Me
The Americans' Retreat from World Power
Individuals, Institutions, and Public Preferences over Public Finance
Constituency Opinion and Congressional Policy Making
The New Apathy
Presidential Popularity from Truman to Johnson
Public Opinion and the Common Defense
Reconsidering the two presidencies
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,19 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2018 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |