Myth of incompetence

Individuals who are not in a position to participate directly in the world affairs which affect their daily lives tend to view such affairs as distant and originating from some national or international centre unrelated to their own experience. They fail to see their own neighbourhood as contributing to global issues such as unemployment, inflation, and so on. In particular, "foreign" affairs are controlled by a small elite, and local individuals or groups do not participate. These gaps in perception and participation lead to a [cycle of apathy]

: lack of opportunity to participate means there is little motivation to learn about international affairs; and lack of knowledge reduces still further the opportunity to participate. This leads to the myth that foreign policy issues cannot be determined by the people themselves as the ordinary citizen is, by definition, incompetent to deal with such matters. As a result foreign policy is usually determined without prior consultation at the local level, the people virtually being "told" what is the right approach.