Innovative poll on foreign policy budget
[so why don’t people vote this way more often?]
From: Steven Kull Date: October 24, 2006 11:18:48 AM EDT
A new PIPA/Knowledge Network poll used an innovative method for
exploring Americans’ attitudes on the foreign policy budget. The
poll was administered to the KN’s probability-based panel over the
internet. Respondents were presented a spread sheet of the 15 major
areas of the budget related to foreign policy, denominated in terms
of a total of $900, and given the opportunity to redistribute it at
will. Respondents were quite active and made some major changes,
especially cutting defense in favor of other budget items related to
security, even economic assistance.
What is interesting is that given information about the distribution
of the budget they made changes that were quite a bit different from
what they express as their preferences when simply asked, in other
polls, whether they want to increase, decrease, or maintain spending
on a specific item. This raises an interesting question about which
response is what we would call public opinion.
You can see more details in the larger report on “What Kind of
Foriegn Policy Americans Want” at
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/262.php?
nid=&id=&pnt=262&lb=hmpg1
Seven in Ten Americans Favor Congressional Candidates Who Will Pursue
a Major Change in Foreign Policy
U.S. Public Wants Less Emphasis on Military Force, More on Working
Through U.N.
A Majority Supports Direct Talks with North Korea and Iran
Full Report
Going into the November midterm elections, seven in ten Americans say
they prefer Congressional candidates who will pursue a new approach
to U.S. foreign policy. A new nationwide survey finds a large and
growing majority of Americans is dissatisfied with the position of
the United States in the world. Most Americans believe that U.S.
policies are increasing the threat of terrorist attack and decreasing
goodwill toward the United States.
The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA)/Knowledge
Networks poll also finds that large majorities of Americans feel that
the United States puts too much emphasis on military force and
unilateral action. Most say they want their member of Congress to
work to shift the emphasis of U.S. foreign policy in favor of
diplomacy, multilateral cooperation, and homeland security.
They also stress the need for programs to reduce the United States’
dependence on oil. When given the opportunity to reshape the foreign
policy budget, respondents redistribute spending from military
programs to other methods of pursuing security.
“It is a rare year that foreign policy takes center stage in
Congressional elections. Voters are calling for a sea change in U.S.
foreign policy. They want less emphasis on military force, and more
on soft power,” said Steven Kull, director of PIPA and editor of
WorldPublicOpinion.org.
On the question of how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of Iran and
North Korea, a majority of respondents disagrees with the Bush
administration’s refusal to seek direct talks. Fifty-five percent say
the United States should enter into talks without preconditions.
The poll was fielded by Knowledge Networks, which surveyed 1,058
people from Oct. 6-15. It finds a sharp increase in the proportion of
Americans who express concern about their country’s standing in the
world. Two out of three Americans (68%) say they are “dissatisfied
with the position of the United States in the world today,” up 17
points from a February Gallup poll. The Bush administration’s
handling of foreign affairs gets poor marks with majorities saying
that it has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks against the
United States (60%) and has decreased goodwill (78%).
Many see the United States’ current foreign policy as out of balance.
Sixty-five percent say that the Bush administration is “too quick to
get military forces involved” and 67 percent say that it should “put
more emphasis on diplomatic and economic methods.” Large majorities
favor putting greater emphasis on non-military forms of pursuing
security such as working to reduce U.S. dependence on oil (84%),
coordinating intelligence and law enforcement efforts with other
countries (83%), working through the United Nations to strengthen
international anti-terrorism law and enforcement (71%), and building
goodwill toward the United States by providing food and medical
assistance to people in poor countries (57%).
Far less popular are approaches such as building new nuclear weapons
(25%) or helping dissidents try to overthrow the government of Iran
(28%).
Americans show a strong preference for Congressional candidates who
would seek to increase multilateral cooperation. Seventy-two percent
say they would prefer candidates who believe that “the U.S. should do
its share in efforts to solve international problems together with
other countries.” Much less popular are candidates who want the
United States to “continue to be the preeminent world leader” (9%
support) or to “withdraw from most efforts to solve international
problems” (16%).
Using an innovative survey technique, respondents were allowed to
redistribute spending within the existing foreign policy budget. The
poll shows that Americans would make sharp changes.
• On average they favor cutting spending on military items by $198
billion, or 36 percent, from 2006 levels, and reducing spending for
military operations in Iraq by $18 billion.
• Americans favor increasing spending on preparation for disasters
by an average of $40 billion. They also support more funding for
energy conservation and renewables ($39 billion), humanitarian and
disaster assistance ($19 billion), initiatives to control the global
spread of HIV/AIDS ($25 billion), helping poor countries develop
their economies ($17 billion),and programs to prevent the spread of
nuclear weapons by helping countries secure nuclear materials ($16
billion).
Americans of both parties are critical of partisanship in the U.S.
Congress, according to the survey. Majorities want a Congress that
seeks common ground and does more to oversee foreign policy.
• A large majority (90%) rejects the view that the best way to
arrive at foreign policy is for each party to fight for what they
think is best, favoring instead Democrats and Republicans trying to
find common ground.
• Seven in ten (71%) prefer that the views of the American people
as a whole influence U.S. foreign policy more than the views of the
majority of their own party.
• Republicans (52%), Democrats (85%) and Independents (76%) all
disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job
• Majorities also say that “the way the Bush Administration has
been conducting foreign policy” has decreased good will toward the
U.S.: This sentiment is shared by Republicans (64%), Democrats (89%)
and Independents (76%).
• Fifty-three percent overall feel that Congress is not doing
enough to oversee U.S foreign policy, while 21 percent say it is
doing too much, and 17 percent say it is doing the right amount of
oversight.
• Two-thirds (65%) say that the U.S. government plays on people’s
fears too much when it justifies its foreign policies to the American
people.
The poll was fielded by Knowledge Networks, using its nationwide
panels, which are randomly selected from the entire adult population
and subsequently provided internet access. For more information about
this methodology, go to www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp.