Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy Approach. The domestic sources of foreign policy approach concentrates on the dynamics of policy-making within national boundaries. Under this heading, there are numerous perspectives by which one can proceed with analyses. Analyses include, for example, Xxxxxxx’x ‘pre-theory’ of the relative potencies of whether states are large or small, developed or undeveloped, open or closed politically (Xxxxxxx 2006), the effects of the elements of national power on foreign policy (Xxxxxxxxxx et al. 2006), the effect of interest groups on foreign policy (Xxxxxx 1997), and the last question of whether or not public opinion matters in foreign policy. The last perspective is based on a view called the ‘Xxxxxx-Xxxxxxxx Consensus’ alleging that public opinion on foreign policy issues is volatile and inconsistent, and therefore, does not influence foreign policy (Holsti 1992). Taking these various perspectives as a collective, there is not one theory that fully and comprehensively encompasses all of these perspectives in a coherent manner. Moreover, the unrelated nature of those perspectives does not facilitate attempts to link those perspectives into one cohesive theory. In fact, the only ‘quasi-law-like generalization’ that has come into being since World War II concerns the relationship between domestic political system and foreign policy in the form of the democratic peace thesis, i.e. that democracies tend to not fight each other (Xxxxxx 2007, 125). Despite the variety of the types of domestic factors that could be analyzed in a democratic political system, one could systematically categorize these factors under the following headings: the policy preferences among various groups, the domestic power structure, the availability of information, and access to decision-makers (Everts 2008). Given that the focus of this study lies is in assessing national political elites in foreign policy-making, the discussion shall focus on theoretical developments dealing with the extent, if any, by which elements of a society, such as legislators, the military, business groups, religious groups, and others interest groups, wield influence in formulating and implementing foreign policy. In the assessment of any domestic political context one must pay particular attention to three issues (Xxxxxx 1997). The first issue is the polarity of the policy preferences of the political players. The second issue concerns the domestic distribution of information. The third issue is the power distribution amon...
