Public Opinion, Unpopular Policy and Congressional Activism: Exploring the "Mann Thesis" of U.S. Foreign Policy‐Making

In: Politics & policy, Band 27, Heft 4, S. 679-697

Abstract

Most analysts agree that Congress has been more assertive on foreign policy since the Vietnam War. A general implication has been that analyses of foreign policy‐making increasingly address questions of the links between Congress and other, non‐governmental, domestic sources of foreign policy and when, how, and why members of Congress become involved. This article focuses on one possible explanation of congressional activism, which holds that members defer to presidential policy when it is popular with the public, and conversely, challenge presidential foreign policy initiatives when public opinion does not support the policy. To test this hypothesis, this article examines a sample of foreign policy initiatives, public opinion data, and congressional activism from the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations to determine the relationship, or lack thereof, between public opinion toward those policies and the level of congressional activism. The article concludes by assessing the implications of the results for American foreign policy‐making.