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When democracies go to war: public debate and the French decision on war in 1999 and 2003
Citation
Goetze, C, When democracies go to war: public debate and the French decision on war in 1999 and 2003, Global Society, 22, (1) pp. 57-74. ISSN 1360-0826 (2008) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2008 University of Kent
DOI: doi:10.1080/13600820701740738
Abstract
On what grounds do democratic states wage war? Public opinion is often considered as
being of crucial importance in the decision to go to war. This article analyses two debates
over war in France. It finds that democracies debate war within a limited range of
arguments from which classical reasons for war such as the geostrategic one are
absent. However, within the limited range of arguments, public support for decisions
to go to war seems to depend significantly on the convergence of all public opinion
actors over the interpretation of the crisis situation. The high politics nature of crisis
situations gives the political leadership strong leverage in the shaping of thick discourses.
The control function of public opinion is then diminished and a de facto prerogative of the
government established even though justifications remain restricted to a limited number
of arguments. Thick discourses of justification seem to be framed predominantly by
arguments of just war.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Political science |
Research Field: | International relations |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | International relations |
Objective Field: | International organisations |
UTAS Author: | Goetze, C (Dr Catherine Goetze) |
ID Code: | 122534 |
Year Published: | 2008 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2017-11-16 |
Last Modified: | 2018-05-10 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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