International Survey Experiments on Nuclear Weapons

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In recent years, scholars have adopted survey experimental methods to investigate phenomena in nuclear politics. This research reflects an understanding that politics do not “stop at the water’s edge,” even in the context of nuclear weapons. Public opinion may indeed have implications for nuclear policy, as previous studies have suggested regarding proliferation, deterrence, and non-use norms.

To that end, this panel builds on the emergent survey experimental research agenda in nuclear politics. Four papers offer fresh insights on public opinion with novel nationally representative surveys conducted in Japan, Morocco, South Korea, and the United States. They offer snapshots of the wide-ranging global implications of nuclear weapons.

First, Sukin surveys Americans and South Koreans to determine the role of strategic and affective considerations in shaping public preferences about nuclear targeting.

Second, Gelpi and Assaf offer a survey evaluating U.S. public reactions to politicians’ attempts to change course on longstanding consensus policies on nuclear weapons.

Finally, two papers address how information provision affects public perceptions of nuclear policy. Buehler and Banerjee explore the factors that might shape Moroccans’ confidence in a French or U.S. nuclear umbrella guarantee. Baron and Herzog assess how learning about disarmament processes changes support for nuclear diplomacy among the American and Japanese publics.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 19: International Security

Chair

• Alexander Montgomery Reed College

Discussant

• Lawrence P. Rubin Georgia Institute of Technology

Individual Presentations

• Determinants of Support for Nuclear Use in South Korea and the United States - Lauren Sukin, Stanford University

• Trump’s Taboos: Elite Rhetoric and the Foundations of American Grand Strategy - Christopher F. Gelpi, Ohio State University; Elias Assaf, The Ohio State University

• Who Supports a Nuclear Umbrella? Exploring Citizen Attitudes toward Deterrence - Matt J. Buehler, University of Tennessee; Arjun Banerjee, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• Public Support for Nuclear Disarmament: Experimental Evidence - Jonathon Baron; Stephen Herzog, Yale University