Public Opinion Study About Military Spending and Foreign Policy
This academic research project includes a nationwide public opinion study to better understand how people in several locations throughout the United States, from Georgia to Hawaii, feel about defense spending and other areas of domestic and foreign policy. We are interested in what everyday people think about US military spending, military recruitment, and the military's role in relation to foreign and domestic policy. We are gathering this information as part of a study funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York International Peace and Security Program. Through an exciting international research partnership between Purdue University Policy Research Institute, the University of Sheffield, the Costs of War Project at Brown University, and ReThink Media, we are undertaking a national poll and a series of interviews and in-depth group conversations with people living in locations that have strong ties to the military, such as the presence of a military base, of a defense contractor plant, and/or that have high military recruitment. In other areas of the country, we are interested in how less direct relationships to the military may shape views about defense spending and its relationship to areas of domestic concern such as job opportunities.
Your participation is voluntary and anonymous – we will not share your name or identifying information in our findings.
The purpose of this study is to better understand public opinion about the military’s role in domestic and foreign policy in the United States. We want to know what you think about federal and defense spending and how it matches up with priorities in your local community. We want to know what you think it means to feel safe where you live, who is responsible for your security, and what the biggest threats are to security. We want to know about your experiences finding jobs and how military service or working in defense industries compares to other jobs available where you live.
We are gathering this information because everyday people living in the United States are not often consulted about US foreign and military policy. Yet US decisions abroad very much affect the economic, security, and cultural context in which we live at home. Anonymized findings will be shared in policy briefings over the course of this two-year study in order to bridge this gap between popular attitudes and policy decisions. Our findings will also inform future research and journalism to reflect your beliefs about federal spending, employment, economic and physical security.
Participation typically means having a brief conversation with our researchers about your views (in person or online) or participating in a more in-depth interview or group discussion at your discretion. To learn more, please email us or fill out the contact form below.
Your participation is voluntary and anonymous – we will not share your name or identifying information in our findings.
The purpose of this study is to better understand public opinion about the military’s role in domestic and foreign policy in the United States. We want to know what you think about federal and defense spending and how it matches up with priorities in your local community. We want to know what you think it means to feel safe where you live, who is responsible for your security, and what the biggest threats are to security. We want to know about your experiences finding jobs and how military service or working in defense industries compares to other jobs available where you live.
We are gathering this information because everyday people living in the United States are not often consulted about US foreign and military policy. Yet US decisions abroad very much affect the economic, security, and cultural context in which we live at home. Anonymized findings will be shared in policy briefings over the course of this two-year study in order to bridge this gap between popular attitudes and policy decisions. Our findings will also inform future research and journalism to reflect your beliefs about federal spending, employment, economic and physical security.
Participation typically means having a brief conversation with our researchers about your views (in person or online) or participating in a more in-depth interview or group discussion at your discretion. To learn more, please email us or fill out the contact form below.