| The interwar years provide a good case study of fluctuating American public opinion in the midst of changing foreign policy in Europe and Asia. This work is predicated on the argument that the American public participated in foreign affairs during those years, moving from neutrality to intervention. First, contrary to popular stereotypes of public passivity during the late 1930s and early 1940s, the public essentially played a very active role in the development of foreign policy as indicated by Gallup polls taken during the interwar years. Second, public opinion shifted from one political position to another as changes in international affairs took place, and the media's reporting a perception of world events affected public attitudes. Third, Americans clearly articulated that beneath all of the above, their survey answers followed a fundamental foreign policy of not only unilateralism, but the safeguarding of American national interest at home and in the Pacific, not precluding war. This work diverges from traditional works on the subject of public opinion on foreign policy by incorporating the needs of the "state," which are fundamental to any social contract that is public opinion. |
