Leader and Pubic support: How Citizens Structure Political Costs in the Niche of Foreign Policy

Abstract

In the article, the issue of costs, encountered by political leader when his foreign policy does not find public support, is considered. The results of empirical research, aimed to investigate the relationship between the realization of national interests in the niche of security, economic prosperity, maintenance of national identity and provision of influence on the international arena, upon one hand, and the attitude of citizens to the political course, their readiness to support it, on the other hand, are presented. The main method of research was experiment, that is embedded in public opinion survey. The analysis shows the intensity manifestation of the value of political activism in the foreign policy domain among the respondents. That is to say, they are of the opinion that political leaders should take into consideration their preferences in foreign policy decision-making. More than that, the respondents tend to influence the foreign policy decision-makers by means of domestic costs' generation through the shifts in the voting behavior. At that, the attitude to the foreign policy course and the readiness to its support were connected mainly with the consequent effects in security and provision of influence on the international arena. Perceived costs and benefits in maintenance of national identity and economic prosperity by themselves predetermine to a lesser degree the respondents' attitude to the foreign policy and readiness to support political leader.