Czech Foreign Policy as Seen by the Public: A Critical Assessment of Selected Aspects of the Almond-Lippmann Consensus

The present thesis focuses on the role of the mass public and public opinion in the process of foreign policy making. It aims to critically assess specific aspects of the so-called Almond-Lippmann consensus within the Czech context, namely focusing on its claims regarding the supposed ignorance of the mass public about and its disinterest in foreign policy related issues and the alleged impotence of public opinion in the process of foreign policy making. Given the recency of Czech Parliamentary elections (2021), the study puts a special emphasis on the importance of foreign policy in the process of electoral decision making. In addition, the scope of the research is further broadened by adopting a relatively rare perspective and posing the question whether the public itself strives for a more active involvement in foreign policy making. The thesis consists of two main parts. The first part introduces a theoretical background for the discussion on the role of the mass public in foreign policy making, which is represented by two alternative models (centralist vs. pluralist). The first part of the thesis also provides the reader with an overview of the current state of research in the area of public opinion and foreign policy. The second part is then dedicated to the presentation of the findings of the empirical research, which takes the form of a survey. The results show that the level of the mass public’s interest in foreign policy is similar to the level of its interest in domestic politics; similarly, foreign policy is found to have an effect on voters’ decisions whose extent is comparable to that of domestic issues. On the other hand, the findings suggest that the public itself does not really seek to be more actively involved in the process of foreign policy making. Finally, regarding the issue of public knowledge of foreign policy issues and international affairs, the study indicates that the mass public is well informed about highly topical and salient issues, as well as about issues that have a special importance for the Czech Republic. Conversely, questions dealing with unbounded and distant issues recorded generally lower success rates. Also, the level of participants’ knowledge significantly decreased with the increasing depth and complexity of the questions. In its final part, the thesis also suggests some possible connections between the level of public knowledge about foreign policy and specific factors. The abovementioned findings are subject to possible limitations of the study, which are also duly discussed.