Putnam Reading summary
Summary- Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two- level games
By Robert D. Putnam
- Domestic Politics and international relations are entangled, one influencing the other
- E.g the Bonn negotiations in which a proposal was made by Japan, Germany and the
USA to recover the locomotive from oil shock
- In these negotiations a package deal was made which was for all actors better than the status quo
- The Bonn summit produced a balanced agreement of unparalleled breadth and specificity in which all parts of the package were actually implemented
How was this possible?
- 1) Key governments adopted policies which were different from those which they would have adopted without this international negotiation
- 2) Power minorities in each government favoured policy on domestic ground the two- level game in international negotiations
- Politics of international negotiations can be conceived as a two level game:
- 1) domestic level: domestic groups put pressure on government to adopt favoured policies ( build coalitions)
- 2) International level: national governments want to maximize ability to satisfy domestic pressure and minimize adverse consequences foreign developments
- ( both levels must be taken into account)
- national political leaders appear in both games ( moves that are rational for the political leader on one board might be impolitic for him at the other one)
- nevertheless both games interact
- therefore national political leader often seek to spot a move on one board that will trigger realignments on the other one ` two- table metaphor´ theory of ratification: importance of win- set
- In the case of a two- level game the negotiators representing two organisations meet to find an agreement but already know that this agreement needs to be ratified by their respective organisation
- The negotiator seeks to find an agreement that will be attractive to his constituents ( because they will need to ratify the agreement in the end)
- There are 2 stages in
By Robert D. Putnam
- Domestic Politics and international relations are entangled, one influencing the other
- E.g the Bonn negotiations in which a proposal was made by Japan, Germany and the
USA to recover the locomotive from oil shock
- In these negotiations a package deal was made which was for all actors better than the status quo
- The Bonn summit produced a balanced agreement of unparalleled breadth and specificity in which all parts of the package were actually implemented
How was this possible?
- 1) Key governments adopted policies which were different from those which they would have adopted without this international negotiation
- 2) Power minorities in each government favoured policy on domestic ground the two- level game in international negotiations
- Politics of international negotiations can be conceived as a two level game:
- 1) domestic level: domestic groups put pressure on government to adopt favoured policies ( build coalitions)
- 2) International level: national governments want to maximize ability to satisfy domestic pressure and minimize adverse consequences foreign developments
- ( both levels must be taken into account)
- national political leaders appear in both games ( moves that are rational for the political leader on one board might be impolitic for him at the other one)
- nevertheless both games interact
- therefore national political leader often seek to spot a move on one board that will trigger realignments on the other one ` two- table metaphor´ theory of ratification: importance of win- set
- In the case of a two- level game the negotiators representing two organisations meet to find an agreement but already know that this agreement needs to be ratified by their respective organisation
- The negotiator seeks to find an agreement that will be attractive to his constituents ( because they will need to ratify the agreement in the end)
- There are 2 stages in