Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games
1988/01/01 by Robert D. Putnam · 7,399 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Diplomacy #Economics #European Union Policy and Governance #Foreign policy #Game theory #International Arbitration and Investment Law #International Relations and Foreign Policy #International relations #International relations theory #Law #Law and economics #Legislature #Negotiation #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Ratification #State (computer science) #Treaty
paper · doi:10.1017/s0020818300027697
published in International Organization 42(3), 427-460 (University of Cambridge)
openalex publication_date 1988/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract
Domestic politics and international relations are often inextricably entangled, but existing theories (particularly “state-centric” theories) do not adequately account for these linkages. When national leaders must win ratification (formal or informal) from their constituents for an international agreement, their negotiating behavior reflects the simultaneous imperatives of both a domestic political game and an international game. Using illustrations from Western economic summitry, the Panama Canal and Versailles Treaty negotiations, IMF stabilization programs, the European Community, and many other diplomatic contexts, this article offers a theory of ratification. It addresses the role of domestic preferences and coalitions, domestic political institutions and practices, the strategies and tactics of negotiators, uncertainty, the domestic reverberation of international pressures, and the interests of the chief negotiator. This theory of “two-level games” may also be applicable to many other political phenomena, such as dependency, legislative committees, and multiparty coalitions.
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