The Making of U S Foreign Policy CLASS

The Making of U. S. Foreign Policy CLASS MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2014 DR. ANNA VIDEN E-MAIL: 78679744@FSV. CUNI. CZ

Who Influences U. S. Foreign Policy? Reading: Lawrence R. Jacobs and Benjamin I. Page, “Who Influences U. S. Foreign Policy? ” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 99, No. 1 (Feb. , 2005), 107 -123. Central concepts: Public opinion Epistemic communities Knowledge-Based Experts National interest Issue salience Electoral accountability Neoliberalism Organized Interest Groups

Public Opinion Public opinion is the predominant sentiment held by members of a social group on social and political issues. There at least six kinds of public opinion (three discussed here): Consensus(75 percent) is halfway between unanimity and majority. Majority opinion is identified in cases when more than 50 percent of a population expresses a similar opinion on an issue, and plurality opinion is the largest proportion of people sharing an opinion on an issue. A segment of a population may express concerns and beliefs called intense minority opinions. The attentive public (see inattentive public)are those who pay particular attention to specific policy areas. Finally, elite opinion is the prevailing sentiment among policymakers and other individuals capable of influencing the direction of domestic and foreign policy(http: //wps. ablongman. com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666781. cw/index. html)

Public Opinion Opinions must be understood within their social context. Several factors should be taken into consideration: The overall political environment in which a poll is taken affects the content of both survey questions and respondents’ answers. Cultural, ideological, and religious values often affect respondents’ views about and orientations to events and issues. Social norms and practices affect what questions are asked in surveys. If social norms and values change, questions in opinion polls reflect these changes. People tend to become attentive to events and issues when something dramatic happens around them in their community, in their country, or around the world (http: //wps. ablongman. com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666781. cw/index. htm l).

Public Opinion The practical, comparative, political, and ideological values of surveys are also determined by a variety of circumstances: Published surveys convey important information about issues, products, or services, and some people base their decisions about these on the survey results. Many people tend to keep their eyes on what other people think or do. By comparing our own opinions to those held by others we learn not only about those others but also about ourselves. In the world of politics, opinion polls can show which issues draw the support of potential voters and which problems do not. Politicians and public officials running for office turn to polls to estimate the strength of their support among potential voters (http: //wps. ablongman. com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666781. cw/index. htm l).

Public Opinion In the ongoing discussion about the impact of public opinion on policies enacted by government, there are two basic views on how public opinion should affect policy: According to the trustee outlook, in a democracy, people’s representatives should be relatively independent from decision makers. Acting on behalf of their constituencies, they should not address every grievance of the citizens or satisfy every wish of their voters. According to the delegate view, people’s elected representatives should conduct policy in response to their constituents’ requests and wishes (http: //wps. ablongman. com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666781. cw/index. html)

Public Opinion Specific circumstances mediate the impact of public opinion on policy: The structure of government institutions and communications, political competition and elections, and the level of people’s engagement in politics. Overall, political elites and interested groups tend to be more influential than people who are not interested in social and political issues. Likewise, individuals who take active roles in the political process, join forces in effective groups, and command greater resources are typically more influential than the unorganized public (http: //wps. ablongman. com/long_sobel_pto_1/40/10417/2666781. cw/index. html).

Epistemic Communities “Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination”, Author(s): Peter M. Haas, International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 1, Knowledge, Power, and International Policy Coordination (Winter, 1992), pp. 1 -35), Published by: The MIT Press, Stable URL: http: //www. jstor. org/stable/2706951. Accessed: 05/01/2011 14: 40 According to Haas an epistemic community denotes 'a network of professionals with recognized expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy-relevant knowledge' (Haas 1992: 3). Ex: Key think-tanks (Brookings, American Enterprise Institute, Center for Strategic and International Studies), key financial institutions (FMI, World Bank: Washington Consensus).

Epistemic Communities cont. Haas maintains that(1992: 3) epistemic communities have: a shared set of normative and principled beliefs which provide a valuebased rationale for the social action of community members; shared causal beliefs, which are derived from their analysis of practices leading or contributing to a central set of problems in their domain and which then serve as the basis for elucidating the multiples linkages between possible policy actions and desired outcomes; shared notions of validity – that is, intersubjective, internally defined criteria for weighting and validating knowledge in the domain of their expertise; and a common policy enterprise – that is, a set of common practices associated with a set of problems to which their professional competence is directed, presumably out of the conviction that human welfare will be enhanced as a consequence.

Epistemic Communities From this perspective, epistemic communities produce knowledge as much as they set to influence politics. Indeed, epistemic communities emerge from a policy demand the policy receptivity is a crucial issue for these communities. The knowledge they produce has to provide solutions (in response) to specific problems; they have to produce 'usable knowledge‘ (Sociological Research Online, 15 (2) 14 <http: //www. socresonline. org. uk/15/2/14. html> 10. 5153/sro. 2154).

National Interest “In a democracy, the national interest is the set of shared priorities regarding relations with the rest of the world. It is broader than strategic interests, though they are part of it. It can include values such as human rights and democracy, if the public feels that those values are so important to its identity that it is willing to pay a price to promote them. The American people clearly think that their interests include certain values and their promotion abroad -- such as opposition to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. ” (http: //www. foreignaffairs. com/articles/55209/joseph-s-nye-jr/redefining-the -national-interest).

The National Interest “A democratic definition of the national interest does not accept the distinction between a morality-based an interest-based foreign policy. Moral values are simply intangible interests. Leaders and experts may point out the costs of indulging these values. But if an informed public disagrees, experts cannot deny the legitimacy of public opinion. Polls show that the American people are neither isolationist nor eager to serve as the world's police. But finding a middle course is proving difficult and complex”. Joseph S. Nye, “Redefining the National Interest”, Foreign Affairs, July/August, 1999, http: //www. foreignaffairs. com/articles/55209/joseph-snye-jr/redefining-the-national-interest).

Issue Salience “Salience is an important concept in much political science research (see the overview in Behr and Iyengar, 1985). The word originally was used by voting behavior scholars to designate the importance individual voters attach to different issues when evaluating political candidates (e. g. , Berelson et al. , 1954). In effect, greater salience meant greater importance”. Christopher Wlezien, “On the salience of political issues: The problem with ‘most important problem’, Electoral Studies 24 (2005) 555 -579.

Neoliberalism The main points of neo-liberalism include: THE RULE OF THE MARKET. ”Liberating "free" enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by deunionizing workers and eliminating workers' rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say "an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone. " It's like Reagan's "supplyside" and "trickle-down" economics -- but somehow the wealth didn't trickle down very much” (http: //www. corpwatch. org/article. php? id=376).

Neoliberalism Neoliberalism: an updated version of ideas associated with economic liberalism which advocates economic liberalization, privatization, free trade, open markets, deregulation and reduction in government spending (Classic definition of Neoliberaism).

Questions on the Paper Abstract What does former research say about who influences foreign policy? What has been the focus of this research? What method has been used by the authors of this paper to gather the data? What analytical models do they refer to in the abstract? What “clusters of issues” and “institutional settings” do they refer to? What is the central thesis of the paper?

Literature Review What is the purpose of a literature review in an academic paper? How is it usually organized? What can we say about this particular literature review?

Questions cont. Main text: Why is it important to know who influences U. S. foreign policy or foreign policy in general? Why does this question also have a democratic dimension according to the authors? What competing groups on the issue of who influences U. S. foreign policy do the authors mention? What is the problem with past research according to the authors?

Questions Cont. Where was the data gathered from? What is the merit of the CCFR-data (data gathered from opinion polls carried out by Chicago Council of Foreign Affairs now Chicago Council of Global Affairs) according to the authors? What methodologies are used by the authors? What is meant by dependent and independent variables? What is the key assumption advanced by the authors in the methodological section? Why are epistemic communities and knowledge-based actors able to wield considerable influence according to the authors?

Results Who wields the most influence over U. S. foreign policy according to the authors? What kind of influence are we talking about? What can we say about the influence exerted by public opinion? If this is true what can be say about the current state of U. S. Middle East Policy? Who wields the most influence?

U. S. Foreign Policy Establishment in Action http: //www. c-span. org/video/? 310803 -1/cia-director-nomination-hearing http: //www. brookings. edu/research/podcasts/2012/02/24 -at-brookingspodcast http: //www. brookings. edu/research/papers/2013/01/an-obama-doctrine-onnew-rules-of-war