Expanding the Hurwitz/Peffley Model: How Race Shapes Public Opinion on Foreign Aid

Abstract

This article examines whether African-Americans and whites in the U.S. form opinions differently about the issue of foreign aid in a similar divergence of opinion as has been found in opinions on welfare. To really see the work done by race in shaping opinions on foreign aid, I test a model which specifies aid to Africa and another that specifies aid to Israel, and compare those to general opinions on aid to see what effect the race of the recipient country has on opinions of foreign aid. I develop a new theory to explain this link between race and foreign policy opinion, expanding on the hierarchical model of foreign policy opinion attributed to Hurwitz and Peffley. The results suggest that race is shaping opinion on foreign policy, and we can infer from the literature that race is actually shaping peoples’ values, which are then shaping foreign policy opinion. This inference is not rejected but my findings, but further research is required to support it strongly.

Keywords: Foreign, Aid, Race