The Impact of American Public Opinion on the Increase of Legislation Against Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Many academic researchers have discussed the impact of public opinion on policies in the United States, including the positions that members of Congress may take on some issues of interest to voters. The impact of public opinion may lead to formulating a legislation with negative political connotations, such as sanctions or threatening to use these sanctions towards countries with strategic and historical ties to the United States. This matter has become worth studying to understand to determine why members of Congress take negative legislations toward some countries more than others. One of the countries facing this type of legislation is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which enjoys historical and strategic relations with the United States. However, these ties did not prevent many members of Congress from taking negative legislations towards Saudi Arabia more than most of its neighbouring countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries that does not have a good reputation among American citizens. In this paper, we look at the relationship between the negative view of American citizens towards Saudi Arabia and the increase of legislation against it in Congress, examining how the impact of American public opinion leading to legislative policies enacted toward a vital country like Saudi. To better understand the relationship between the negative view of American citizens towards Saudi Arabia and the rise of legislation against it in Congress, we compared Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which share many political, cultural, and social similarities. I monitored how American citizens viewed Saudi Arabia and Egypt from 2001 to 2022 and compared this to the legislation issued against the two countries from the 107th to the 117th congressional terms. These results showed that there is a relationship between American citizens’ unfavourable view of Saudi Arabia and the rise in legislation against it.