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10/06/2005
Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy
Following are some of the attitudes Americans have about U.S.
foreign policy, as revealed in an extensive survey by Daniel
Yankelovich, Chairman and Co-founder of the organizations
Public Agenda, DYG, and Viewpoint Learning. The data was
taken this past June and appears in the September / October 2005
edition of Foreign Affairs.
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How Americans Grade U.S. Foreign Policies
[The first figure is the percentage awarding an A or B the
second is for a C, D, or F]
Helping other countries when natural disasters strike 83 / 15
Helping create democracy in the rest of the world 50 / 46
Having good working relations with other countries 45 / 52
Stopping countries or groups from getting nuclear weapons
40 / 52
Succeeding in meeting U.S. objectives in Afghanistan 40 / 51
Succeeding in meeting U.S. objectives in Iraq 39 / 56
Working with other countries to protect the global environment
37 / 56
Having good relations and a good reputation with Muslim
countries 28 / 65
Protecting U.S. jobs from moving overseas 18 / 78
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Other findings:
33 percent of Republicans “worry a lot” that the war in Iraq is
leading to too many casualties 77 percent of Democrats worry
a lot
61 percent of Republicans give a high grade to the U.S. on
meeting its objectives in Iraq 19 percent of Democrats
63 percent of Republicans give a high grade to the U.S. on living
up to American ideals of human rights and justice in its foreign
policy 27 percent of Democrats
22 percent of Republicans “worry a lot” that the U.S. may be
losing the trust and friendship of people in other countries 57
percent of Democrats
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63 percent of those who never attend religious services “worry a
lot” that the war in Iraq is leading to too many casualties 45
percent who ‘frequently’ attend religious services, defined as
“more than once a week.”
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We talk about tipping points in the stock market, but what about
tipping points when it comes to popular opinion and foreign
policy? As Daniel Yankelovich says, “Until the public’s opinion
on an important foreign policy issue reaches such a point, it does
not really influence the formulation of policy in Washington.
Most of the time, the public’s views do not count, either as a
boost or as a constraint, and policy wonks can and do ignore
them with impunity.”
“At other times, however, as during the Vietnam War, public
opinion gathers enough momentum to start exerting a decisive
influence on policymaking .Public opinion reaches the tipping
point when a significant majority of the population feels strongly
that the government can and should do something about a given
issue .
“Consider issues that greatly concern experts and elites but still
leave the public unfazed. Americans do not seem to worry
much, for example, about the United States’ extravagant foreign
debt, even though it may prove hazardous to the nation’s future.
Nor do they worry a lot about the possibility that contagious
diseases could spread to the United States, that China’s growing
power could threaten the U.S. economy, or that allegations of
detainee torture have damaged the United States’ reputation.
[Ed. on all the above, 23 to 32 percent care about the particular
item.] On these issues, public opinion remains far from a tipping
point.”
Today, the war in Iraq is the foreign policy issue that appears to
have reached the tipping point. According to the survey, this is
the only one of 15 foreign policy issues that seriously worries a
majority of the public. 56 percent, overall, “worry a lot” that the
war is causing too many casualties.
Another issue that the public is concerned about is illegal
immigration. 58 percent of Americans believe tighter controls
on immigration to the United States will strengthen national
security “a great deal,” and an even larger majority (74 percent)
think that the government could do a better job of “protecting our
borders from illegal immigration.” On a related topic, 88 percent
is afraid “terrorists may obtain biological, chemical, or nuclear
weapons to attack the United States.”
Finally, 64 percent believe that Washington should be
emphasizing diplomacy more than military action, while the
same percentage feels that Washington is not doing a good job of
maintaining amicable relations with Muslim countries.
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Hott Spotts returns Oct. 13 more thoughts on China.
Brian Trumbore
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