Abstract
International historians have long been fascinated by public opinion and its influence on policy-making, citing it frequently as one of the many factors that inform foreign-policy choices. However, historians – and international historians in particular – have yet to develop any substantial or rigorous methodological frameworks capable of revealing the actual influence of popular opinion at the highest levels of diplomatic policy. This article intends to redress this deficiency by outlining a methodological approach that elucidates the role of public opinion in the decision-making process. In so doing, it will also explore the tensions between different approaches to the study of international history, notably the apparent divergence between traditional ‘diplomatic’ history on the one hand and the more theoretically diffuse ‘international’ history on the other. The conceptual framework forwarded here will suggest that the two approaches need not be in opposition, at least when seeking to explain the formative role of public opinion on foreign-policy making. Indeed, the careful application of inter-disciplinary theoretical frameworks not only enriches our understanding of international history in its totality, but also reveals much about the diplomatic fulcrum of our discipline.
Highlights
International historians have long been fascinated by public opinion and its influence on policymaking, citing it frequently as one of the many factors that inform foreign policy choices
The conceptual framework forwarded here will suggest that the two approaches need not be in opposition, at least when seeking to explain the formative role of public opinion on foreign policymaking
This need not require the abandonment of the traditional focus on the decision-makers; on the contrary, the application of theory can enhance our understanding of the diplomatic ‘core’, revealing how key decision-makers were influenced by public opinion
Summary
International historians have long been fascinated by public opinion and its influence on policymaking, citing it frequently as one of the many factors that inform foreign policy choices.
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