Domestic Sources of Preferences for Arms Cooperation: The Impact of Protest

Although assertions that 'domestic politics matters' are common, it is not always recognized that theorists can assign a range of different roles to domestic factors. This article seeks to demonstrate that much research on domestic variables overlooks a potential role of social protest. Fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of peace research 1998-11, Vol.35 (6), p.677-695
Main Author: Knopf, Jeffrey W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACTIVISM
Arms Control
Arms control agreements
Arms limitation
Atomic weapons
Civil-military relations
Control variables
Cooperation
Datasets
Defenses
Demonstrations & protests
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Foreign policy
International cooperation
International economic cooperation
International politics
International Relations
Peace movements
Political protests
Protest
PUBLIC OPINION
Public Policy
Social protest
Social protests
Strategic arms limitation talks
Time series analysis
Treaties
U.S.A
United States
UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT
Warheads
Weapons
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Summary:Although assertions that 'domestic politics matters' are common, it is not always recognized that theorists can assign a range of different roles to domestic factors. This article seeks to demonstrate that much research on domestic variables overlooks a potential role of social protest. Focusing on studies of cooperation and arms control, this article shows that they frequently either treat domestic politics only as a source of constraints that explain failures of cooperation, or view the public as purely reactive to efforts by state leaders to use international cooperation to blunt the impact of domestic problems. An analysis of US willingness to enter strategic arms talks during the Cold War suggests that this view of domestic politics is too narrow. A multivariate statistical analysis, supplemented by case-study evidence, shows that protest against nuclear weapons was a significant source of US decisions to seek strategic arms control. This suggests that theories that incorporate domestic factors need to allow for the possibility that public activism can contribute to changes in state preferences in the direction sought by activists, including a preference for security cooperation.
ISSN:0022-3433
1460-3578
DOI:10.1177/0022343398035006002