The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam

by Richard Sobel

Book Overview

How strongly does public opinion affect the making of U.S. foreign policy? In The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam, Richard Sobel provides a compelling answer to this provocative question that has long stirred spirited debate among scholars, activists, and policymakers. The book explains how public attitudes have affected the making of U.S. foreign policy. It also explores the tension between theoretical views of what...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195105281
• ISBN13: 9780195105285
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The public has a say in foreign policy

This book is a study of the influence of public opinion on foreign policy making during the Vietnam war, the contra aid controversy, the Persian Gulf war, and the Bosnia crisis. The public opinion research is based on polls and the policy research on statements of and interviews with the actual decision makers. The book shows how public opinion influences major decisions about interventions. It argues that public opinion limits but doesn't set intervention policy. Clearly and simply written, the book explains a major part of how democracy works in U.S. foreign policy. I enjoyed and learned a lot from reading it.