Public Support for War: A Comparison of Vietnam and Iraq
Open Access
Author:
Finnerty, Danielle Megan
Area of Honors:
International Politics
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
David Scott Bennett Jr., Thesis Supervisor Dr. Gretchen G Casper, Thesis Honors Advisor Dr. Gretchen G Casper, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Iraq War public opinion Vietnam War political science
Abstract:
Extensive research has been done to determine which factors had the strongest influence on public opinion regarding American involvement in the Vietnam War. As a result of this analysis, we have a long list of variables that have been proposed as significant in affecting public opinion during this time period. However, because the Iraq War is so recent, there has been minimal research done regarding public opinion towards the war. This study intends to address this gap in research on the subject. By analyzing national public opinion polls, this study will apply variables found to be significant during Vietnam to the war in Iraq and determine if they are still relevant. Numerous variables could be utilized, but a subset was chosen as the focus of this study ranging from demographic to external variables, such as fatalities. Some of these variables were found to be influential in determining approval for the war in Iraq as they were for the Vietnam War. The discrepancy of the results between the two wars was more noticeable in terms of the magnitude of these indicators of approval and how the strength of their influence has changed from Vietnam to Iraq.