Date of Graduation

1996

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This dissertation examines the determinants of the presidential use of military force. More specifically, this dissertation is an effort to determine how international and domestic political factors interact with presidential personality types when the use of military force is a foreign policy option. An attempt is made to bridge the gap between theories of international relations and foreign policy decision-making by using all three levels of analysis. Previous research has failed to take into account the effect of individual presidential characteristics on the decision to use force. Furthermore, the previous research involving the use of force has either examined the effect of the use of force on presidential popularity or vice versa. This dissertation attempts to correct for these deficiencies. Theoretically important variables measuring the international environment, the domestic environment and personal characteristics of the presidents are included in a dynamic model. The components of presidential popularity and the determinants of the presidential use of force are both examined. It is then argued that presidential popularity and the use of force have a reciprocal effect on each other. Data from the three levels of analysis are compiled from 1953 to 1988. Both recursive and nonrecursive models are tested. Presidential personality was not found to be an important determinant of the use of military force. The international variables performed the more consistently, suggesting that the realist paradigm does not have significant explanatory power. The nonrecursive model results indicate that there is a reciprocal relationship between presidential approval and the use of force. This finding indicated that future research should utilize simultaneous equations.

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