public opinion and foreign policy pt. 1

what is the almond-lippmann consensus?

early cold war-era idea that described mass public opinion on foreign policy as an unstable, poorly informed "mood" swayed by headlines

what are heuristics in foreign policy decision-making?

shortcuts or cues that citizens use to make policy decisions without research

what is on-line processing?

a model where people form immediate evaluations upon encountering new facts, adding them to a running tally rather than storing specific details

what is the difference between accuracy goals and directional goals?

accuracy goals seek objective truth, and directional goals interpret evidence to protect pre-existing beliefs

how does most political reasoning function under motivated reasoning?

mostly directional, where people act like lawyers defending prior beliefs rather than judges weighing new evidence

how did public support decline during the korea and vietnam wars according to mueller (1970)?

support declined in a regular pattern aligned with casualties, early losses hurt support more than later ones

militant internationalism

one of wittkopf's dimensions measuring a citizen's willingness to use military force and strength to pursue national goals

cooperative internationalism

one of wittkopf's dimensions measuring support for diplomacy, alliances, foreign aid, and international institutions

what are the four foreign policy postures formed by combining mi and ci?

internationalists (high mi, high ci)

hardliners (high mi, low ci)

accommodationists (low mi, high ci)

isolationists (low mi, low ci).

which moral foundations predict cooperative internationalism?

individualizing foundations, concern for harm and fairness

which moral foundations predict militant internationalism?

binding foundations, loyalty, authority, and purity

how do values, preferences, and opinions differ?

values are broad commitments

preferences are general policy goals

and opinions are specific, volatile answers to single poll questions

what is an issue public in foreign policy?

a small group of citizens with a direct stake or strong interest in a specific topic who have detailed, well-informed views

how does the public form foreign policy views compared to issue publics?

the public relies on general values, party cues, and heuristics rather than detailed policy information

what did shapiro and page (1988) discover about aggregate public opinion?

aggregate opinion is stable, sensible, and moves in large steps because individual measurement noise cancels out

why does aggregation make public opinion appear rational even if individuals lack factual recall?

individual errors and noise cancel each other out when averaged across millions, leaving a reliable signal by attentive citizens

what is the "informed few move first" pattern in opinion trends?

attentive citizens track debates closely and update views first; the broader public follows later with a lag

how do sharp jumps in aggregate foreign policy opinion behave over time?

they align with major external events (like war or crises) and then fade back toward trends

why is asking for detailed factual recall a flawed test of public coherence?

citizens can hold value-based policy views without remembering specific facts or numbers

what was the significance of the vietnam war for public opinion research?

it gave long-term casualty and survey data so scholars could measure opinion stability over time

are militant internationalism and cooperative internationalism dependent on each other

no, they are largely independent dimensions. a person can be high or low or both

how do heuristics affect decision quality?

they can create good or bad outcomes depending on if the shortcut aligns with what a fully informed decision would have been

what is the main modern challenge to the almond-lippmann consensus?

opinion is stable over time, shifts in response to events, and clusters into coherent underlying dimensions

what is the role of party coalitions in foreign policy opinion today?

foreign policy views are breaking along partisan lines and new political fault lines

do citizens have coherent foreign policy views?

yes, even though individuals lack detail, aggregate opinion shows structure, stability, and value-based logic