The “proximate casualties†hypothesis holds that popular support for American wars is undermined more by the deaths of American personnel from nearby areas than by the deaths of those from far away. However, no previous research has tested the mechanisms that might produce this effect....

This study investigates why, despite the potential credibility enhancement associated with generating domestic audience costs, leaders (in this instance, U.S. presidents) frequently opt to “go private†by conducting foreign policy out of the public spotlight. The author argues that...

This article builds on past framing research to probe the impact of casualty frames on the public’s willingness to expend additional “blood and treasure†in an ongoing war. The rhetoric of “sunk costs†(often described as “sacrificesâ€) that must be redeemed...

Gender is now recognized as an important dividing line in American political life, and scholars have accumulated evidence that national security issues are an important reason for gender differences in policy preferences. We therefore expect that the dynamics of support for defense spending...

This article tests the hypothesis that ordinary people favor punishing badly behaved foreign actors to make them “pay†for their crimes rather than purely to protect national security interests. In an undergraduate sample, people’s endorsement of the principle of retributive...

Scholars have long conceptualized public support for war as the product of a cost–benefit calculation in which combat casualties factor significantly. This article argues that, when calculating the human costs of conflict, Americans care about more than just the number of war dead; they also...

How do citizens hold their leader accountable during an ongoing war? The authors distinguish between two models of accountability—the “decision maker†and “managerial†models—and investigate their implications in the context of the current war in Iraq. They...

A principal agent model is used to test the hypothesis that when proposed uses of force attract the support of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the rally in support of the American president increases significantly. Regression analysis is applied to rallies during all militarized...

Using experiments, we show that subjects who are asked about their support for war without being told about diplomatic strategies to deal with crises back military operations at levels consistent with people who are told that the alternatives to war are of low quality. In contrast, subjects who...

Public opinion can permit or encourage retaliatory aggressive state policies against vulnerable but threatening out-groups. The authors present a model in which public support for such policies is determined by perceived threat from and dehumanization of the target group. This two-factor model...