IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v36y1992i2p227-241.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shaping Foreign Policy Opinions

Author

Listed:
  • Donald L. Jordan

    (U.S. Air Force Academy)

  • Benjamin I. Page

    (Northwestern University)

Abstract

Increasing evidence of connections between public opinion and U.S. foreign policy-making suggests the importance of determining what influences shape the collective foreign policy preferences of the public. A data set involving repeated measures of public opinion and content analyses of TV news broadcasts before and between opinion surveys is used to estimate the impact of news stories from various sources on opinion. Reported statements and actions by media commentators, allegedly nonpartisan “experts,†opposition party figures, and popular (but not un popular) presidents have the largest estimated effects, while the impact of other sources is negligible. Despite ideas about the “two presidencies†and the like, the process of shaping opinion on foreign policy does not appear substantially different from that affecting domestic policy preferences. Some implications for the democratic control of foreign policy are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Donald L. Jordan & Benjamin I. Page, 1992. "Shaping Foreign Policy Opinions," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(2), pages 227-241, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:36:y:1992:i:2:p:227-241
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002792036002001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002792036002001
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002792036002001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Page, Benjamin I. & Shapiro, Robert Y. & Dempsey, Glenn R., 1987. "What Moves Public Opinion?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 23-43, March.
    2. Page, Benjamin I. & Shapiro, Robert Y., 1983. "Effects of Public Opinion on Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 175-190, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hayo, Bernd & Neumeier, Florian, 2017. "The (In)validity of the Ricardian equivalence theorem–findings from a representative German population survey," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 162-174.
    2. Robert Y. Shapiro & Benjamin I. Page, 1988. "Foreign Policy and the Rational Public," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 32(2), pages 211-247, June.
    3. Eilders, Christiane, 1997. "The impact of editorial content on the political agenda in Germany: Theoretical assumptions and open questions regarding a neglected subject in mass communication research," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: The Public and the Social Movement FS III 97-102, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    4. Bernhardt, Lea & Dewenter, Ralf & Thomas, Tobias, 2023. "Measuring partisan media bias in US newscasts from 2001 to 2012," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Author-Name: Alan S. Blinder & Alan B. Krueger, 2004. "What Does the Public Know about Economic Policy, and How Does It Know It?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 35(1), pages 327-397.
    6. Niklas Harring & Sverker C. Jagers, 2013. "Should We Trust in Values? Explaining Public Support for Pro-Environmental Taxes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, January.
    7. Christopher J Williams, 2016. "Issuing reasoned opinions: The effect of public attitudes towards the European Union on the usage of the 'Early Warning System'," European Union Politics, , vol. 17(3), pages 504-521, September.
    8. Michael R. Greenberg & Marc D. Weiner & Henry Mayer & David Kosson & Charles W. Powers, 2014. "Sustainability as a Priority at Major U.S. Department of Energy’s Defense Sites: Surrounding Population Views," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Jensen, Carsten & Naumann, Elias, 2016. "Increasing pressures and support for public healthcare in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 698-705.
    10. Latré, Edwin & Perko, Tanja & Thijssen, Peter, 2017. "Public opinion change after the Fukushima nuclear accident: The role of national context revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 124-133.
    11. Benjamin Michallet & Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & François Facchini, 2015. "Greening Up or Not? The Determinants Political Parties’ Environmental Concern: An Empirical Analysis Based on European Data (1970-2008)," Working Papers 2015.25, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    12. Liza G. Steele, 2015. "Income Inequality, Equal Opportunity, and Attitudes About Redistribution," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 444-464, June.
    13. Kinda, Romuald, 2010. "Democratic institutions and environmental quality: effects and transmission channels," MPRA Paper 27455, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Najam uz Zehra Gardezi & Brent S. Steel & Angela Lavado, 2020. "The Impact of Efficacy, Values, and Knowledge on Public Preferences Concerning Food–Water–Energy Policy Tradeoffs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-20, November.
    15. Hanna Ågren & Matz Dahlberg & Eva Mörk, 2007. "Do politicians’ preferences correspond to those of the voters? An investigation of political representation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 137-162, January.
    16. Filip Beule & Haiyan Zhang, 2022. "The impact of government policy on Chinese investment locations: An analysis of the Belt and Road policy announcement, host-country agreement, and sentiment," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 194-217, June.
    17. Marco R. Di Tommaso & Stuart O. Schweitzer, 2013. "Industrial Policy in America," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13749.
    18. Pfetsch, Barbara & Eilders, Christiane & Neidhardt, Friedhelm, 2004. "Das Kommentariat: Rolle und Status einer Öffentlichkeitselite," Discussion Papers, Working Group Political Communication and Mobilization SP IV 2004-402, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    19. Hannes R. Stephan, 2020. "Shaping the Scope of Conflict in Scotland’s Fracking Debate: Conflict Management and the Narrative Policy Framework," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(1), pages 64-91, January.
    20. Sarah D Kowitt & Seth M Noar & Leah M Ranney & Adam O Goldstein, 2017. "Public attitudes toward larger cigarette pack warnings: Results from a nationally representative U.S. sample," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:36:y:1992:i:2:p:227-241. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.