In this master's thesis, I explore the influence of the anti-war movement on U.S. political decisions during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1973. The main goal of the research is to determine whether the anti-war movement had an impact on political decision-makers. The thesis defines what the anti-war movement is and further addresses the role of public opinion, which was gathered through public opinion surveys. In the following, I present chronologically specific examples where public opinion or the anti-war movement may have influenced political decisions. For analysis, I use both qualitative and quantitative research methods. With the qualitative method, I review the literature and theoretical frameworks related to the anti-war movement and public opinion. In the quantitative part, I analyze survey data to examine how public opinion and attitudes toward the Vietnam War influenced political decisions. The combination of these methods provides a comprehensive overview, as it allows for the analysis of theories and historical sources as well as the quantification of changes in public opinion over time.
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