Foreign Policy and the Electoral Connection

Public opinion is central to representation, democratic accountability, & decision making. Yet, the public was long believed to be relatively uninterested in foreign affairs, absent an immediate threat to safety & welfare. It had become conventional to say that "voting ends at water's edge." We start the examination of the scholarly understanding of the role of foreign affairs in public opinion & voting at that low point of view. Much subsequent development saw an increasing degree of holding & using of attitudes & beliefs about foreign affairs among the public. Moving in parallel with developments in political psychology, theoretical & methodological advances led to an increasingly widely shared view that the public holds reasonably sensible & nuanced views, that these help shape their political behaviors, & that these, in turn, help shape & constrain foreign policy making. References. Adapted from the source document.