Questions for Adam Berinsky, In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from WWII to Iraq

Peffley PS 473 Public Opinion

1. General questions: How can we explain the public’s support for, or opposition to war? Do we need a different theory to explain foreign policy attitudes and mass responses to war? Does politics stop at the water’s edge? What are some of the problems associated with using public opinion data from this time period and how does Berinsky get around them?

2. Use evidence from WWII and the Iraq war in Berinsky’s In Time of War to evaluate the support for two theories of public support for war—the “event-response” theory and “elite cue theory.” In your essay be sure to briefly outline the theories before evaluating them with the evidence, and show me you read the book.

3. What is the “event response theory” of public support for war? Give examples of the theory, as presented by Mueller, Larson, or Feaver and Gelpi. What are some of the problems with this theory, according to Berinsky? How can “event response theory” be wrong when aggregate, time-series studies seem to show that public opinion is responsive to raw events?

4. What is “elite cue theory” and what is the evidence for it, according to Berinsky? What roles do partisanship, group ties, and political information play in predicting mass responses to war and international events? How is “elite cue theory” consistent with aggregate, time-series studies that seem to show that public opinion is responsive to raw events? And in what ways does Berinsky’s “elite cue theory” improve upon Zaller’s theory of opinion leadership, especially when it comes to explaining the patterns of opinion in World War II and the Iraq War?

5. Evaluate at least four of the “myths” about World War II by briefly describing the myth, evaluating how each stand up to the evidence presented in Berinsky’s book, and discussing what the revised record tells us about the public’s response to World War II and other wars.

6. What light does the Iraq War Casualty Survey Experiment shed on the bases of public support for war? What theory of public response to war does it support, in your view--“event response theory” or “elite cue theory”? In your essay, briefly describe the experiment and it’s major findings, and assess its implications for understanding public support for war.

7. What is the Korean Intervention Experiment and what does it say about the basis of public support for war? How does the Iraq war intrude on the results of this experiment?

8. How can we explain public support for civil liberties during times of war? Under what types of conditions do what types of individuals support civil liberties in times of war? What are the political implications of Berinsky’s examination of these questions in Chapter 7?

9. Based on your reading of Berinsky (especially Chapter 8), take the position of a Machiavellian advisor to President Obama and explain what the electoral advantages and disadvantages of going to war are, based on prior research.  Under what conditions can incumbents be expected to gain or lose votes and elections by going to war? Explain. Where did the Bush administration go right or wrong in their management of public support for the war in Iraq? What are some of the perils ahead for Obama’s management of the war in Afghanistan and public support for it?

10. Critically evaluate Berinsky’s explanation of public support for war. What are some of the strengths of his explanation and what are some of the weaknesses that need more attention in future studies?