Abstract:

Conventional wisdom holds that the President of the United States has a high degree of autonomy over U.S. foreign policy. Such autonomy is said to stem in part from his ability to confront the Senate with the either-or choice of accepting or rejecting treaties. In this article, we take issue with this characterization and explore how the Senate uses treaty “reservations” to alter ratification documents and advance Senate policy views. We find conservative Senates and pivotal senators systematically exploit the right to add reservations, and thus limit the President's autonomy in his conduct of foreign affairs.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/1468-2508.t01-1-00127

Affiliations: 1: George Washington University