公众舆论:影响国家对外决策制定的第四种权力——《公众舆论与20世纪的外交:一个全球视角》书评

Public Opinion:the Fourth Power that Influences Diplomatic Decision-making of a Country——A Book Review of Public Opinion and Twentieth-Century Diplomacy:A Global Perspective

长期以来,学者们有关公众舆论对外交政策的影响及其作用机制争论不休,而深入理解这一议题对在新型国际关系下如何开展公共外交具有重要意义。英国学者丹尼尔·赫克著,张顺生、周建军翻译的《公众舆论与20世纪的外交:一个全球视角》的出版恰逢其时,该书基于历史视角,以时间序列为叙事线索,对20世纪的五个重大历史事件进行描述,深刻分析公众舆论的多重概念及其表达机制,描述各国不同的决策精英对公众舆论的反应程度,展现公众舆论作为第四种权力的作用效力。本书既展现了公众舆论对政策制定的推动作用与阻碍作用,还反映了公众舆论对决策结果的积极影响与消极影响,同时揭示了媒体如何在公众与决策者之间扮演关键角色,这有助于我们理解公众舆论对外交政策的作用机制及其效用。

For a long time,scholars have debated the influence of public opinion on foreign policy and its mechanism,and a deep understanding of this issue is of great significance to how to carry out public diplomacy under the new type of international relations.The publication of Public Opinion and Twentieth Century Diplomacy:A Global Perspective,written by British Scholar Daniel Hucker and translated by Zhang Shunsheng and Zhou Jianjun,is timely.Based on a historical perspective and using time series as narrative clues,the book describes five major historical events in the 20th century,profoundly analyzing multiple concepts of public opinion and its expression mechanism,depicting the reaction degree of decision-making elites in different countries to public opinion,and demonstrating the role and effectiveness of public opinion as the fourth power.This book not only shows the promoting and hindering effects of public opinion on policy making,but also reflects the positive and negative effects of public opinion on the outcome of decision making.At the same time,it reveals how the media plays a key role between the public and the decision makers,which helps us to understand the mechanism and effectiveness of public opinion on foreign policy.