In Time of War

Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to tướng Iraq

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9780226043586

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In Time of War

Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to tướng Iraq

From World War II to tướng the war in Iraq, periods of international conflict seem lượt thích unique moments in U.S. political history—but when it comes to tướng public opinion, they are not. To make this groundbreaking revelation, In Time of War explodes conventional wisdom about American reactions to tướng World War II, as well as the more recent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Adam Berinsky argues that public response to tướng these crises has been shaped less by their defining characteristics—such as what they cost in lives and resources—than by the same political interests and group affiliations that influence our ideas about domestic issues.

With the help of World War II–era survey data that had gone virtually untouched for the past sixty years, Berinsky begins by disproving the myth of “the good war” that Americans all fell in line to tướng tư vấn after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The attack, he reveals, did not significantly alter public opinion but merely punctuated interventionist sentiment that had already risen in response to tướng the ways that political leaders at trang chủ had framed the fighting abroad. Weaving his findings into the first general theory of the factors that shape American wartime opinion, Berinsky also sheds new light on our reactions to tướng other crises. He shows, for example, that our attitudes toward restricted civil liberties during Vietnam and after 9/11 stemmed from the same kinds of judgments we make during times of peace.

With Iraq and Afghanistan now competing for attention with urgent issues within the United States, In Time of War offers a timely reminder of the full extent to tướng which foreign and domestic politics profoundly influence—and ultimately illuminate—each other.

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Reviews

“In Time of War is a must read for students of public opinion and American political history and foreign policy. Berinsky’s careful research shows decisively the value of public opinion data—both new and old—and how such data can correct misperceptions about recent history as well as challenge misperceptions, if not myths, about the past and its often idealized politics.”

Robert Y. Shapiro, Columbia University

“Adam Berinsky’s core insight, that citizens respond far more to tướng elite discourse about events kêu ca to tướng the events themselves, persuasively refutes the dominant perspective in the literature on public opinion and American foreign policy. Rather kêu ca relying solely on a reanalysis of data from recent conflicts, Berinsky also undertakes a unique historical expedition into public opinion during World War II. This allows him to tướng present a comprehensive picture across seven decades, resulting in a tour de force of methodologically rigorous and theoretically rich public opinion research.”

Matthew Baum, Harvard University

“Adam Berninsky’s In Time of War represents a major step forward in our understanding of American public opinion and foreign policy. His penetrating analysis of survey data on public reactions to tướng wars ranging from World War II through Afghanistan and Iraq casts new and provocative light on a variety of controversies in the literature. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest, scholarly or otherwise, in the subject.”

Gary Jacobson, University of California, San Diego

"A major advancement in scholarship on a topic that is both timely . . . and of enduring importance. In addition to tướng being a persuasive piece of research, it is a highly readable book that would make an ideal text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses. Indeed, the core of the book . . . should be required reading for any course on public opinion about foreign policy."

Paul R. Brewer | Public Opinion Quarterly

"[Berinsky] assembles some impressive and disturbing statistics that will confirm some readers’ worst doubts about how little reasoning goes into American popular feeling about their country’s wars."

Times Higher Education Supplement

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction: America at War

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Part I. Historical Perspective

Chapter 2. Public Opinion and War: A Historical Perspective

Chapter 3. The Myths and Meaning of Public Opinion and World War II

Part II. The Structure of Support for War

Chapter 4. The Calculation of Costs: An Innocent Public

Chapter 5. Partisan Structure of War Support: Events, Elites, and the Public