The US Foreign and Defense Policy Changes based on the ‘Audience Cost’: US Foreign Policy Changes regarding The Congress, Public Opinion, and Media

Abstract

This study applies James Fearon’s “Audience Cost” theory on the US foreign-defense policy during the Bush-Obama era, and analyzes when their foreign-defense policy agenda clashed against groups that can inflict the “audience cost”. This study attempted to prove that the President is not the sole decisionmaker in foreign-defense policy area, and the public opinion, the Congress, and even media are influencing the direction of the American foreign-defense policy altogether.