Who Directs Foreign Policy?

Giancarlo Diaz

Diplomová práce

Anotace:

Formally it is understood the President of the United States holds board authoritative powers over US foreign policy but there is a more nuanced understanding that is apparent with inclusion of domestic audience cost theory. As democratically elected leadership, they are naturally concerned about their citizens will view their foreign policy endeavors. Domestic audience cost is fundamentally about citizens’ ability to control foreign policy through punishing the leadership. Citizens acquire information to judge their leader’s foreign policy performance through two information transmission mechanisms as identified by Slantchev. The endogenous mechanism is comprised of those currently in office, such as the president and other elected officials that are directly affected by audience cost. The exogenous mechanism is comprised of all non-office seeking sources whose position would not change due to audience cost; these include the media, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations. The exogenous mechanism is an extremely broad category, which Slantchev defines as including media conglomerates to individual whistle blowers. Slantchev view that the citizenry’s perception of a foreign conflict is created through information provided by the Presidency and an amalgamation of private organizations outside of the state itself. This view of domestic audience cost opens the door to an understanding of foreign policy that is not dictated by the state but instead is formulated between the formal and informal powers in society.

Abstract:

Formally it is understood the President of the United States holds board authoritative powers over US foreign policy but there is a more nuanced understanding that is apparent with inclusion of domestic audience cost theory. As democratically elected leadership, they are naturally concerned about their citizens will view their foreign policy endeavors. Domestic audience cost is fundamentally about citizens’ ability to control foreign policy through punishing the leadership. Citizens acquire information to judge their leader’s foreign policy performance through two information transmission mechanisms as identified by Slantchev. The endogenous mechanism is comprised of those currently in office, such as the president and other elected officials that are directly affected by audience cost. The exogenous mechanism is comprised of all non-office seeking sources whose position would not change due to audience cost; these include the media, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations. The exogenous mechanism is an extremely broad category, which Slantchev defines as including media conglomerates to individual whistle blowers. Slantchev view that the citizenry’s perception of a foreign conflict is created through information provided by the Presidency and an amalgamation of private organizations outside of the state itself. This view of domestic audience cost opens the door to an understanding of foreign policy that is not dictated by the state but instead is formulated between the formal and informal powers in society.

Keywords

Formation, of, American, Domestic, Audience, Cost

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 31. 1. 2022

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 10. 2. 2022
• Vedoucí: dr. David Lindsey
• Oponent: Mgr. Tomáš Kaválek, Ph.D.

CEVRO Univerzita

Magisterský studijní program / obor:
Philosophy, Politics, Economics / Philosophy, Politics, Economics