The Role of ’Enemy Images’ and Ideology of Elite Belief Systems
Author(s)
Murray, Shoon Kathleen; Cowden, Jonathan A.
Abstract
We use data from the Leadership Opinion Project (LOP), a panel survey of American opinion leaders which brackets the end of the Cold War, to investigate two interrelated questions about the structure of elites’ foreign policy beliefs. We assess, first, whether the militant internationalism/cooperative internationalism scheme, has continued relevance now that the USSR has collapsed; and second, whether Hurwitz and Peffley’s domain-specific, hierarchical model of mass belief structure can be applied to elite belief systems. The evidence indicates that respondents’ past stances toward military and cooperative ventures are highly predictive of their views once the Cold War ends. Our findings center on the importance of ideology in constraining foreign policy beliefs, and the close interconnection with domestic beliefs. Consequently, as we illustrate, predictable ideological divisions among opinion leaders persist in the post-Cold War era. In sum, our evidence demonstrates considerable continuity in elites’ beliefs despite profound changes in the global system, and reaffirms the importance that ideology plays in structuring attitudes within elite belief systems.
