Synopses & Reviews
How was the Bush administration able to convince both Congress and the American public to support the plan to go to war against Iraq in spite of poorly supported claims about the danger Saddam Hussein posed? Conventional wisdom holds that, because neither party voiced strong opposition, the press in turn failed to adequately scrutinize the administrationandrsquo;s arguments, and public opinion passively followed.
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Drawing on the most comprehensive survey of public reactions to the war, Stanley Feldman, Leonie Huddy, and George E. Marcus revisit this critical period and come back with a different story. Not only did the Bush administrationandrsquo;s carefully orchestrated campaign fail to raise Republican support for the war, opposition by Democrats and political independents actually increased with exposure to the news. But how we get our news matters: People who read the newspaper were more likely to engage critically with what was coming out of Washington, especially when exposed to the sort of high-quality investigative journalism still being written at traditional newspapersandmdash;and in short supply across other forms of media. Making a case for the crucial role of a press that lives up to the best norms and practices of print journalism, the book lays bare what is at stake for the functioning of democracyandmdash;especially in times of crisisandmdash;as newspapers increasingly become an endangered species.
Review
andldquo;The most comprehensive investigation into how news coverage influenced American public opinion during the run up to the Iraq War, Going to War in Iraq presents a novel and well-written analysis that will make a lasting contribution to the scholarly literatures on American politics, international relations, public opinion, and political communication.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Investigative journalism is important for democracy and imperative in times of war. Going to War in Iraq engages key issues regarding leadership and public opinion and reflects in a crucial way on the importance of a free press based on the best norms and activity of print journalism in the United States.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;A fascinating, detailed, and sometimes surprising scholarly analysis of how Americans, starting in 2001, came to consent to the prospect of waging war against Saddam Husseinandrsquo;s Iraq.andnbsp; Feldman, Huddy, and Marcus not only challenge key aspects of the conventional wisdom about this historical pivot-point; they also offer a number of trenchant judgments that should help to guide Americans the next time they must face this kind of choice.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Conventional wisdom holds that the Bush administration was able to convince the American public to support a war in Iraq on the basis of specious claims and a shifting rationale because Democratic politicians decided not to voice opposition and the press simply failed to do its job.
Drawing on the most comprehensive survey of public reactions to the war, Stanley Feldman, Leonie Huddy, and George E. Marcus revisit this critical period and come back with a very different story. Polling data from that critical period shows that the Bush administration's carefully orchestrated campaign not only failed to raise Republican support for the war but, surprisingly, led Democrats and political independents to increasingly oppose the war at odds with most prominent Democratic leaders. More importantly, the research shows that what constitutes the news matters. People who read the newspaper were more likely to reject the claims coming out of Washington because they were exposed to the sort of high-quality investigative journalism still being written at traditional newspapers. That was not the case for those who got their news from television. Making a case for the crucial role of a press that lives up to the best norms and practices of print journalism, the book lays bare what is at stake for the functioning of democracy--especially in times of crisis--as newspapers increasingly become an endangered species.
Synopsis
It is now widely accepted, even by the news media themselves, that they failed to adequately scrutinize the Bush administrationandrsquo;s arguments for the invasion of Iraq. With neither party voicing much opposition, the press followed their leads, and public opinion passively followed suit...that at least is the conventional wisdom. Going to War revisits this critical time and comes back with a different story. Drawing upon the most comprehensive survey done on the Iraq conflict designed to monitor public reactions, the authors show that not only did the administrationandrsquo;s carefully orchestrated campaign for war fail to raise the level of Republican support for the war, but Democratic and political independentsandrsquo; opposition to the war significantly increased.and#160; By all previous accounts, this should not have happened. Going to War explains how and why it did. The authorsandrsquo; analysis of public opinion in the months before the war sheds light on the specific conditions that enable the American public to sensibly evaluate complex information surrounding government policy. In particular, they find that, whether Republican or Democrat, the individuals who regularly read newspapers were the most likely to question or resist what was coming out of Washington. Most effective were the newspapers that went beyond simply reporting what was said to offer investigative journalism that in a sense created or found the news. This is a kind of journalism that is almost non-existent on television and internet-based news sitesandhellip;and is now at risk of disappearing from print media as well. Ultimately, Going to War makes the case for the crucial role of a free press that lives up to the best norms and practices of print journalism, especially in the case of war but also for the effective functioning of democracy.
About the Author
Stanley Feldman is professor of political science and associate director of the Survey Research Center at Stony Brook University.Leonie Huddy is professor of political science and director of the Survey Research Center at Stony Brook University. She is coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology.George E. Marcus is professor of political science at Williams College and the author, coauthor, or coeditor of seven books, including, most recently, Political Psychology: Neuroscience, Genetics, and Politics.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Chapter 1.and#160;and#160; The Public Responds to a Possible War in Iraq: Confronting Two Conundrum
Chapter 2.and#160;and#160; The Skeptical Citizen: Public Uneasiness about Waging War in Iraq
Chapter 3.and#160;and#160; Political Leaders Set the Stage for War
Chapter 4.and#160;and#160; The News Media Reacts: Channeling and Challenging the Administration
Chapter 5.and#160;and#160; The Deliberative Citizen Emerges: Democratic and Independent Opposition to the Iraq War
Chapter 6.and#160;and#160; Newspaper Content or Newspaper Readers?
Chapter 7.and#160;and#160; Citizen Competence Reconsidered
Appendix
Notes
References
Index