In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq (Chicago Studies in American Politics)

From World War II to the war in Iraq, periods of international conflict seem like unique moments in U.S. political history—but when it comes to public opinion, they are not. To make this groundbreaking revelation, In Time of War explodes conventional wisdom about American reactions to World War II, as well as the more recent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Adam Berinsky argues that public response to these crises has been shaped less by their defining characteristics—such as what they cost in lives and resources—than by the same political interests and group affiliations that influence our ideas about domestic issues. With the help of World War II–era survey data that had gone virtually untouched for the past sixty years, Berinsky begins by disproving the myth of “the good war” that Americans all fell in line to support after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The attack, he reveals, did not significantly alter public opinion but merely punctuated interventionist sentiment that had already risen in response to the ways that political leaders at home had framed the fighting abroad. Weaving his findings into the first general theory of the factors that shape American wartime opinion, Berinsky also sheds new light on our reactions to other crises. He shows, for example, that our attitudes toward restricted civil liberties during Vietnam and after 9/11 stemmed from the same kinds of judgments we make during times of peace. With Iraq and Afghanistan now competing for attention with urgent issues within the United States, In Time of War offers a timely reminder of the full extent to which foreign and domestic politics profoundly influence—and ultimately illuminate—each other. From World War II to the war in Iraq, periods of international conflict seem like unique moments in U.S. political history, but when it comes to public opinion, they are not. To make this revelation, this book explores conventional wisdom about American reactions to World War II, as well as the more recent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It argues that the Americans' response to these crises has been shaped less by their defining characteristics—such as what they cost in lives and resources—than by the same political interests and group affiliations that influence their ideas about domestic issues. With the help of World War II-era survey data, the book begins by disproving the myth of “the good war” that Americans all fell in line to support after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The attack did not significantly alter public opinion, but merely punctuated interventionist sentiment that had already risen in response to the ways that political leaders at home had framed the fighting abroad. The book also sheds new light on American reactions to other crises. It shows, for example, that American attitudes toward restricted civil liberties during Vietnam and after 9/11 stemmed from the same kinds of judgments they make during times of peace. With Iraq and Afghanistan now competing for attention with urgent issues within the United States, this book offers a reminder of the full extent to which foreign and domestic politics profoundly influence each other Introduction: America at war Historical perspective Public opinion and war: a historical perspective The myths and meaning of public opinion and World War II The structure of support for war The calculation of costs: an innocent public Partisan structure of war support: events, elites, and the public Ethnic groups: attachments, enmities, and support for war Public opinion and war: back to the water's edge Civil liberties and war Elections during wartime Conclusions Appendix A: description of data and weighting Appendix B: Iraq war casualty survey analysis Appendix C: congressional record content analysis Appendix D: statistical significance of ethnic variables Appendix E: relationship between support for war and support for restricting civil liberties Appendix F: NES analysis of retrospective war support. Berinsky argues that public responses to war in the U.S. are shaped by the same political interests & group affiliations that influence opinions on domestic issues