Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States

<p>Since 1945 the United States (US) has constructed a global web of 'special relationships' with states that share its political values, economic philosophy, or security predicament. Whether we understand these countries as 'clients', 'tributaries', 'friends...

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Main Author: Martill, BM
Other Authors: Snidal, D
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
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author Martill, BM
author2 Snidal, D
author_facet Snidal, D
Martill, BM
author_sort Martill, BM
collection OXFORD
description <p>Since 1945 the United States (US) has constructed a global web of 'special relationships' with states that share its political values, economic philosophy, or security predicament. Whether we understand these countries as 'clients', 'tributaries', 'friends', 'allies' or 'subordinates', what sets these relationships apart is the remarkably high level of cooperation and the extent to which this has endured over the decades. One question rarely asked, however, is how we can explain variation in the level of cooperation in these relations over time. Each of the 'special relationships' of the US has waxed-and-waned over the years, but the sources of this variation have not been fully uncovered. In this thesis I argue that changes in domestic political variables within each of the allied states are responsible for the varying degrees of cooperation witnessed over time. Utilising the example of Anglo-American relations in the postwar period, supplemented by a large-n statistical study, I demonstrate how a focus on political parties as the optimal actors in studying international cooperation helps us to understand the effects of political ideology and legislative constraint in foreign affairs.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:cba5a620-e02e-4484-aa3b-8bea2d5fe8e92024-02-21T11:33:32ZAgreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United StatesThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:cba5a620-e02e-4484-aa3b-8bea2d5fe8e9International studiesPolitical ideologiesPolitical scienceEnglishORA42013Martill, BMSnidal, D<p>Since 1945 the United States (US) has constructed a global web of 'special relationships' with states that share its political values, economic philosophy, or security predicament. Whether we understand these countries as 'clients', 'tributaries', 'friends', 'allies' or 'subordinates', what sets these relationships apart is the remarkably high level of cooperation and the extent to which this has endured over the decades. One question rarely asked, however, is how we can explain variation in the level of cooperation in these relations over time. Each of the 'special relationships' of the US has waxed-and-waned over the years, but the sources of this variation have not been fully uncovered. In this thesis I argue that changes in domestic political variables within each of the allied states are responsible for the varying degrees of cooperation witnessed over time. Utilising the example of Anglo-American relations in the postwar period, supplemented by a large-n statistical study, I demonstrate how a focus on political parties as the optimal actors in studying international cooperation helps us to understand the effects of political ideology and legislative constraint in foreign affairs.</p>
spellingShingle International studies
Political ideologies
Political science
Martill, BM
Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title_full Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title_fullStr Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title_full_unstemmed Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title_short Agreement through opposition: political ideology and legislative constraint in the 'special relationships' of the United States
title_sort agreement through opposition political ideology and legislative constraint in the special relationships of the united states
topic International studies
Political ideologies
Political science
work_keys_str_mv AT martillbm agreementthroughoppositionpoliticalideologyandlegislativeconstraintinthespecialrelationshipsoftheunitedstates