Public opinion and foreign policy : British and French relations with the Netherlands, 1785-1815
This thesis examines the interplay of public opinion, national identity and foreign policy during the period 1785-1815, focusing on three consistently interconnected countries: the Netherlands, France and Great Britain. The Netherlands provides the centrepiece to the study, which considers how the Dutch were perceived as a nation, a people and as a political entity, at both governmental and popular levels, in the three countries throughout the period. Public opinion is theorised as a two-part phenomenon. Active public opinion represents the collated thoughts and responses of a certain public to an event or set of circumstances. Latent public opinion represents the sum of generally-accepted underlying social norms, stereotypes or preconceptions; the perceptions and representations latently present in unconscious mentalitĂ©s. The thesis examines how perceptions and representations of the Netherlands in all three countries fed into public opinion and, ultimately, into national identity either of the self or the âotherâ. It then investigates the extent to which the triangular policies of Britain, France and the various incarnations of the Dutch state were shaped by popular perceptions, identities and opinion.
Callister, Graeme
Public opinion and foreign policy : British and French relations with the Netherlands, 1785-1815. This thesis examines the interplay of public opinion, national identity and foreign policy during the period 1785-1815, focusing on three consistently interconnected countries: the Netherlands, France and Great Britain. The Netherlands provides the centrepiece to the study, which considers how the Dutch were perceived as a nation, a people and as a political entity, at both governmental and popular levels, in the three countries throughout the period. Public opinion is theorised as a two-part phenomenon. Active public opinion represents the collated thoughts and responses of a certain public to an event or set of circumstances. Latent public opinion represents the sum of generally-accepted underlying social norms, stereotypes or preconceptions; the perceptions and representations latently present in unconscious mentalitĂ©s. The thesis examines how perceptions and representations of the Netherlands in all three countries fed into public opinion and, ultimately, into national identity either of the self or the âotherâ. It then investigates the extent to which the triangular policies of Britain, France and the various incarnations of the Dutch state were shaped by popular perceptions, identities and opinion.
public_opinion foreign_policy british_french relation netherlands examines interplay public_opinion national_identity foreign_policy period focus_three consistently interconnect country netherlands france great_britain netherlands provide study_considers dutch perceive nation people political_entity governmental popular level country throughout_period public_opinion theorise two_part phenomenon active public_opinion represent collate thought response certain public event set circumstance latent public_opinion represent sum generally accepted underlie social_norm stereotype preconception perception representation present unconscious examines perception representation netherlands country feed public_opinion ultimately national_identity either self investigates_extent policy britain_france various incarnation dutch state shape popular_perception identity opinion