DOMESTIC POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELA

How does what happens inside a country affect what it does in the international arena? In this course we examine how domestic politics influence international behavior. This of course includes regime type--do democracies behave differently from autocracies, whether in initiating conflict or willingness to cooperate? How might democratic backsliding affect a country's foreign policy, including its alliances? How does regime type affect the capacity to fight and win wars? We will also examine the impact of group interests, the electoral cycle, and bureaucratic dynamics, as well as bargaining--national leaders face a two-level bargaining game while dealing with other states as well as domestic actors. In both discussion and writing assignments you will apply theoretical insights to international politics today as well as to selected historical cases.