People, Polls, and Policymakers: American Public Opinion and National Security

Abstract

Hinckley examines the effect of public opinion upon foreign policy, influencing, as it does, many vital issues including changing US-Soviet relations, arms control and SDI, terrorism, and the MIddle East. He calls for more attention to be paid to the measurement of public opinion. He reveals that the current popular theories, which argue either that the public is ignorant and cannot be expected to hold serious opinions on policy matters or, alternatively, that the public is responsible, rational, and the most important determinant in foreign policy formulation, are both too sweeping, and he shows that the truth lies somewher in between these views. Hinckley argues that greater attention must be paid to the ever more sophisticated measurement of public opinion as it brings into sharper focus the relationship between the press, the public, and policymakers.

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