This chapter presents a survey of selected topics in United States foreign policy (or rather policies), focusing on the political processes involved in arriving at those policies. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, you should be able to do each of the following:

1. List the constitutional powers of the president and compare them with the authority of Congress in foreign affairs. Indicate why it is naive to read the Constitution literally in order to determine which institution has the major responsibility to conduct foreign policy. Explain why the president has a larger role than the Framers intended.
   
   
2. Compare the president's powers with those of a prime minister in a parliamentary system.
   
   
3. Explain why checks on the powers of the national government in foreign affairs are primarily political rather than constitutional.
   
   
4. Give reasons for the volatility of public opinion on foreign affairs. Explain the advantages that the president obtains when he acts resolutely in crises. Describe the problems that the president may face, using public opinion on the Vietnam War as an example.
   
   
5. Explain the worldview concept, and describe the containment strategy of Mr. X. Summarize essential elements of the Munich-Pearl Harbor and post-Vietnam worldviews. Discuss the revisionist argument that it is the material interests of elites, rather than their principles, that explain American foreign policy. Indicate the potential objections to this view.
   
   
6. Analyze the key allocative decisions about the defense budget. List factors that make the decisions on the budget incremental. Explain how the congressional role in deciding on weapons systems has changed in recent years.
   
   
7. Explain how the condition of the defense industry makes necessary a follow-up system in the distribution of contracts. Indicate the extent to which client defense politics affects U.S. industry, and compare the performance of defense contractors with that of similar nondefense companies.
   
   
8. Explain why the cost-overrun problem is primarily the result of bureaucratic rather than political factors, and describe proposed reforms of the system.
   
   
9. Explain why the 1947 and 1949 Defense Reorganization Acts prevented the merger of services in the Defense Department. Review the current structure of the department, and explain how it contributes to interservice rivalries. Explain why presidents find it difficult to use the Joint Chiefs of Staff to control defense policy making. Discuss the reforms adopted in 1986.