Midterm

Question 1

W. Mead

Answer 1

“The Jacksonian Tradition”

Question 2

Mead: The Jacksonian Tradition

Answer 2

When Americans engage in War they use all methods to end it quickly and completely without much regard for the morality or casualty number of the enemy side. The piece discussing the casualty rates of Japan during the American Bombing campaigns of WW2 to emphasize the disproportionate number of deaths American enemies must bear.

Question 3

Braumoeller

Answer 3

“The Myth of American Isolationism”

Question 4

Braumoeller: Myth of American Isolationism

Answer 4

An analysis of public opinion polls and the timing of Americans willingness to go to war seems to disprove the notion that America/ American Public has isolationist values when it comes to foreign policy. Ex: American started to favor intervention in WW2 when France surrendered rather than after pearl harbor, showing America wanted intervention on behalf of our allies.

Question 5

K. Waltz

Answer 5

Selection from Theory of International Politics

Question 6

K. Waltz, Selection from Theory of International Politics

Answer 6

Anarchic Orders and Balance of Power: Balance of Power politics, Countries are always trying to balance, even if that is not their end goal.

Question 7

Skowronek

Answer 7

The Politics Presidents Make

Question 8

Skowronek: Politics Presidents Make

Answer 8

The political time and structure has a great impact on the president’s ability to legitimize using his authority. The different political opportunities structure how presidents act within each. The president’s relationship with the former regime will determine the amount of legitimacy he is seen to have, and thus how much authority he can exert. Presidency is a battering ram, presidents who have succeeded most are those who have been best situated to use it as such

Question 9

Howell and Pevehouse

Answer 9

“When Congress Stops War”

Question 10

Howell & Pevehouse, “When Congress Stops War”

Answer 10

This article focus on the actual power the Congress has in decision-making on aspects of foreign policy, especially in war ventures and also on public opinion. The authors oppose the thesis arguing that the Congress inactivity in wartime is due to institutional failure.
It is often said that the Congress has no institutional power but the authors argue that the opposite, they have this institutional power to act during wartime, but the support the President can have on intervention decision depend on the partisan composition of the congress.

Question 11

Frieden

Answer 11

“Sectoral Conflict and US Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940”

Question 12

Frieden, “Sectoral Conflict and US Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940”

Answer 12

Contradictory role of the US in the interwar period can be traced to uneven distribution of economic interests within US society. Conflict between internationalist interest groups and isolationist interest groups limited US participation in foreign affairs.

Question 13

Iyengar and Simon

Answer 13

“News Coverage of the Gulf Crisis and Public Opinion”

Question 14

Iyengar and Simon - News Coverage of the Gulf Crisis and Public Opinion

Answer 14

Looks at the Gulf War through lens of media effects. Evidence of agenda setting: as media coverage of the Gulf War increased, more survey respondents reported that the Gulf War was the most important issue facing US. Evidence of priming: foreign policy performance assessments tended to override economic assessments on their impact on thermometer ratings of Pres. Bush during Gulf crisis. Evidence of framing: framing of crisis episodic in nature. Episodic framing of public order strengthened preference for punitive/military response to crisis.

Question 15

What is the “Jacksonian Tradition”

Answer 15

a. US will get involved only when it has to but when it does get involved it goes really hard and pushes through
i. Sending aid money, sending troops, ordering air strikes, etc.
b. Support for armed intervention abroad; “warrior culture”; “war lobby”

Question 16

How did it evolve?

Answer 16

a. Universal male suffrage; Scotts-Irish frontier – expand beyond white base

Question 17

What are the characteristics of Jacksonians?

Answer 17

a. Honor
b. Equality
c. Individualism
d. Financial spirit
e. Courage

Question 18

Balance of Power Theory Basic Requirements/Assumptions

Answer 18

1. States are unitary actors with interest and motives and are constrained by the international system
   i) Anarchy: Absence of government
   ii) Goal: Survival
   (1) Minimum: preservation; maintenance of position in system
   (2) Maximum: maximize power; universal domination
2. Expectations: Balancing and limitation
   a) States engage in balancing behavior whether or not balanced power is the end of their acts
   b) Strong tendency toward balance in the system
   c) A balance, once disrupted, will be restored in one way or another
   d) Balances of power recurrently form
   e) International politics as a competitive system
   f) States will imitate one another and become socialized to their system

Question 19

3) Evaluating a Theory  Common Errors with BOP Theory:

Answer 19

a) Contains assumptions that are theoretical, not factual
b) Assumptions lead to expectations
i) Claims to expect a result (recurrent formation of balances of power) which may not accord with the intentions of any of the units whose actions combine to produce that result
c) Internally consistent
d) Tells us something of interest
e) Testable
i) Inferring expectations (hypotheses) and testing them  falsifiable?
ii) Observation of difficult cases, not easy ones
f) A theory at one level of generality cannot answer questions about matters at a different level of generality
i) Does not explain the particular policies of states

Question 20

Skowronek: “The Politics Presidents Make” Key Concepts

Answer 20

• Power: resources, formal and informal, that presidents have in a given time to get things done
• Authority: expectations about exercise of power at a particular moment’ perceptions about what is appropriate
• IVs: dynamics + political parameters (previously established commitments, President’s political identity)
• DV: presidential decision making and its impact

Question 21

Howell & Pevehouse: “When Congress Stops War” Key Concepts

Answer 21

• Congressional Levers of Power:
  * legislation, appropriations, hearings, public appeals
  * length of military campaigns, purse strings, how appropriations spent, timetables for withdrawal, expand conflict to new territory, establish reporting requirements
• Divided Government:
  * H&P: as opposition seats in congress grow, president less likely to use force
  * Fowler: unified governmentàfrequency of congressional hearings
  * Kriner: partisan balanceàtimetables for withdrawal, congressional authorizations of war, cut funds

Question 22

Almond Lippman Consensus:

Answer 22

Public Opinion is:

a. Volatile: transitory, fleeting, shallow
b. Incoherent: lacks logic and structure
c. Ineffectual: limited impact

Question 23

The Effect of Public Opinion

Answer 23

1. P.O. is a constraint
   
   • the steep political cost of violating the public trust
2. P.O. as a stimulus for action
   - compel leaders to take action to threats in the system
   - the ‘rally round the flag’ effect: public approval rises when force is used and boots are on the ground
3. P.O. as a non-factor
   - no direct route of influence outside of elections
   - dependent upon the views of P.O. held by leaders (Douglas Foyle)

Question 24

Types of Interest Groups

Answer 24

1. Coalition Interest Groups
   
   • devoted to business and industry
     Ex: MIC
2. Ethnic Interest Groups
   -these groups represent the needs and interests of major ethnic populations in society
   Ex: Israeli Lobby
3. Single-Issue Groups
   -ideology drive
   -mouthpieces for causes - there are the crusaders

Question 25

Media Effect: Mechanisms of Influence

Answer 25

1. Differences in content
   
   • Media influence through providing different information
2. Media Priming
   
   • Repetition
   • priming works making information more available, and thus more vivid
3. Media framing
   
   • the focus of news stories impacts attributions
     
     • changing the connection between cause and effect
4. Cheap Framing
   
   • media as entertainment
   • “soft news”; sensationalist

Question 26

Baum

Answer 26

“Sex, Lies and War”

Question 27

“Soft News”

Answer 27

“set of story characteristics, including the absence of public policy component, sensationalized presentation, human-interest themes, and emphasis on dramatic subject matter, such as crime and disaster”

Question 28

“Cheap Framing”

Answer 28

framing the information in terms accessible to even politically disengaged individuals; requires less cognitive energyàeliminates the costs of paying attention

Question 29

Iyengar, & Simon “News Coverage of the Gulf War and Public Opinion”

How did media coverage of the Gulf War impact public opinion?

Answer 29

1. Agenda Setting: level of news coverage (Gallup most important problem Q)
2. Priming: foreign policy performance weight increased in evaluations of Bush (ANES 1988, 1990, 1991)
3. Framing: Rs who reported higher exposure to TV news expressed greater support for military rather than diplomatic response (Content analysis, survey data)

Question 30

Governmental Actors

Answer 30

• Executive – plan FP
• Congress – fund FP
• Bureaucracies – implement FP

Question 31

Skowronek – 4 types of politics

Answer 31

1. Reconstruction
2. Disjunction
3. Articulation
4. Pre-emption

The lesson: presidential authority depends on a President’s role in reference to their predecessor

Question 32

President Management Styles

Answer 32

1. Navigators: nuanced view of foreign policy and enjoy past policy experience
   — problems: can become trapped by details, ignore experts advisors; decisions take time
   Ex: Eisenhower
2. Sentinels: black and white worldview, combined with policy expertise
   — problems: require consensus and agreement from their advisors
   Ex: Johnson
3. Observers: nuanced worldview, but without prior policy expertise
   —problems: allow advisors to manipulate the process; creates internal competition among the inner circle
   Ex: Clinton
4. Mavericks: lack prior policy expertise, and use a black and white view of the world
   —-Problems: idiosyncratic and emotional decision-making; use simple analogies rather than full information search
   Ex: Truman

Question 33

4 expectations of the BP Paradigm:

Answer 33

1. Many actors, divergent issues
2. Absence of omnipotence
   
   • president and congress are just another actor on the political paying field
3. Decisions are a political bargain
   
   • creation of a political bargain that is acceptable to most, but optimal for no one
4. There is a gap between decision and implementation
   
   • policy is usually unique, no off-the-shelf tool is available but this uniqueness creates slippage

Question 34

Levels of Analysis Problem

Answer 34

1st level: Decision-making Approach
- focus on leaders and groups
- examines the ‘people in the room’
- borrows heavily from psychology
FOR AMFP: President matter most

2nd level: Domestic politics
- focus on structure of government, and character of the population
- behavior results from internal competition among powerful groups
FOR AMFP: P.O., interest groups and media matter most

3rd level: Structuralism
- focus on the character of the system
- “billiard ball” model of politics
FOR AMFP: the structure maters most

Mixing levels
- focus on the interactions between the levels of analysis
FOR AMFP: Everything matters

Question 35

Explaining AMFP: 3 parts

Answer 35

1. System
   
   • opportunities and constraints
   • limits the available “tools” of foreign policy
     == Incentives/disincentives for state action
2. Societal Actors
   
   • national interests
   • internal competition between domestic actors
     == the stuff of decisions, goals and desires
3. Formal actors
   
   • corral and direct foreign policy
   • interpret desires of society, discover systematic opportunities, and devise policy to maximize goals