{"product_id":"9781400866472","title":"War and Democratic Constraint: How the Public Influences Foreign Policy","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy do some democracies reflect their citizens' foreign policy preferences better than others? What roles do the media, political parties, and the electoral system play in a democracy's decision to join or avoid a war? \u003ci\u003eWar and Democratic Constraint\u003c\/i\u003e shows that the key to how a government determines foreign policy rests on the transmission and availability of information. Citizens successfully hold their democratic governments accountable and a distinctive foreign policy emerges when two vital institutions—a diverse and independent political opposition and a robust media—are present to make timely information accessible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMatthew Baum and Philip Potter demonstrate that there must first be a politically potent opposition that can blow the whistle when a leader missteps. This counteracts leaders' incentives to obscure and misrepresent. Second, healthy media institutions must be in place and widely accessible in order to relay information from whistle-blowers to the public. Baum and Potter explore this communication mechanism during three different phases of international conflicts: when states initiate wars, when they respond to challenges from other states, or when they join preexisting groups of actors engaged in conflicts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExamining recent wars, including those in Afghanistan and Iraq, \u003ci\u003eWar and Democratic Constraint\u003c\/i\u003e links domestic politics and mass media to international relations in a brand-new way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47125454717168,"sku":"9781400866472","price":30.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781400866472_p0.jpg?v=1763714046","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781400866472","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}