The Rally Round the Flag Phenomenon

11 Pages 2746 Words

the president directly. Third, the event must be direct, dramatic and sharply focused. Lian and Oneal, in Patriotism or Opinion Leadership? The Nature and Origins of the “Rally ‘Round the Flag” Effect (2001), add other dimensions to the definition. They state that the United States must also be seen as “both the revisionist and originator of the dispute,” with prominent headline placement in major national newspapers, such as The New York Times.
Two specific models of the phenomenon dominate the perception of the reasons and effects the rally effect has on public opinion. The patriotic response model presented in Mueller reasons that an international event may evoke public feeling that the nation is threatened, and that the public is needed to stand behind the nation and preserve it by supporting the commander-in-chief unconditionally. The elite opinion leader model holds that the president is offered unconditional support because of the lack of criticism in times of international conflict, resulting in national strife. (Callaghan, Virtanen, 1993)
Mueller’s patriotic response comes from a public commitment behind the president in times of political or strategic interests to the nation. This feeling also results in the fear that a dis-united union may appear weak in times of national turmoil. This support is non-partisan in nature and does not rely on any other factors of national interest, such as the economy or prior presidential approval rating.
Mueller attributes the strength of this support to two separate entities: the admiration throughout the years in general for the president, and what he refers to as the “follower mentality.” Since the Second World War Gallop has posed the question “What man that you have heard or read about living today in any part of the world, do you admire the most?” With the exceptions of the pope and Winston Churchill, Americans almost entirely dominate the list between the yea...