Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University Working Paper Series WP-04-07 Social Provision and Regulation: Theories of States, Social Policies and Modernity Ann Shola Orloff Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research Professor, Sociology, Northwestern University
[email protected] DRAFT Please do not quote or distribute without permission. Presented at “New Challenges for Welfare State Research” Annual Meeting of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (RC19) August 21-24 2003, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 2040 Sheridan Rd. w Evanston, IL 60208-4100 w Tel: 847-491-3395 Fax: 847-491-9916 www.northwestern.edu/ipr, w
[email protected] Social Provision and Regulation: Theories of States, Social Policies and Modernity1 Abstract Research in international relations has identified a variety of actors who appear to influence U.S. foreign policy, including experts and “epistemic communities,” organized interests (especially business and labor), and ordinary citizens or “public opinion.” This research, however, has often focused on a single factor at a time, rather than systematically testing the relative importance of alternative possible influences. Using three decades of extensive survey data, Jacobs and Page conduct a comparative test, attempting to account for the expressed foreign policy preferences of policymakers by means of the preferences of the general public and those of several distinct sets of elites. The results of cross-sectional and time-lagged analyses suggest that U.S. foreign policy is most heavily and consistently influenced by internationally oriented business leaders, followed by experts (who, however, might themselves be influenced by business). Labor appears to have significant but smaller impacts.