In One Ear and Out the Other? Electoral Issue Salience and Elite Withdrawal from the Iraq War Coalition
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Authors
Fotiadis, Zach
Issue Date
2025
Type
Article
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Why do states withdraw from military coalitions? Such decisions often involve tension
between distinct sources of pressure. Some member states must balance requests
from coalition leaders to stay deployed with domestic political demands to pull out,
particularly if the coalition in question is having difficulty achieving success. The author
finds that in this context, domestic elections play a paramount role in influencing
elite foreign policy choices when a country’s participation in a military coalition is a
highly salient issue for its public. From constraining to empowering political leadership’s
desired agenda, voters with foreign policy priorities are among the players with
a seat at the decision-making table. This research thesis explores the conditions under
which electorates prioritizing an international affairs issue will induce their respective
leaders into adopting their position. The case study is the Iraq War Coalition, assessing
whether the existence of anti-war electoral issue salience was a major factor compelling
elites to withdraw. The research model ultimately produces the key finding that high
relative anti-Iraq War electoral issue salience was a primary inducer of coalition exit
among democratic states in the absence of elite consensus.
Description
Citation
Fotiadis, Zach. "In One Ear and Out the Other? Electoral Issue Salience and Elite Withdrawal from the Iraq War Coalition." West Point Journal of Politics and Security, Volume 3 Issue 1; Spring 2025.
Publisher
West Point Press