| Popis: |
Many theories about the sources of national security and foreign policy stress the limiting, and occasionally the initiating, effect of public opinion. Political leaders have sometimes assumed that mass opinion constituted a major constraint on the choice of military policy, and have hesitated, for fear of popular reaction, to pursue policies they thought desirable. Regardless of political leaders' perceptions, we have a picture of a public that was generally ready to rely on the judgment of the political leadership, to acquiesce in existing or planned levels of military strength. The failure of opposition to the military to emerge in mass opinion is especially striking since presidential popularity is generally considered to be a victim of extended wars. Political dissent, as measured by thinking the war "a mistake," or by disapproval of the President's performance in general, rose during both the Korean and Indochina wars. |
