Patterns of Junior Partner Influence on the Foreign Policy of Coalition Governments

Kai Oppermann, Klaus Brummer

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    35 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article contributes to research on the foreign policy influence of junior partners in coalition governments. In particular, it takes up the call to pay greater attention to different patterns and pathways of such influence. To this purpose, this article distinguishes two types of coalition set-ups for foreign policy making. In the first type, junior partners hold one or more departments in the foreign policy executive, and their foreign policy influence rests on the powers that controlling ministries in the field brings. In the second type, junior partners do not hold any department in foreign affairs, and their influence comes from their ability to constrain the discretion of the senior partner in foreign policy. The article exemplifies its theoretical contentions in comparative case studies on the current coalition governments in Germany and the UK, which represent the first and second type respectively.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalBritish Journal of Politics and International Relations
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2013

    Keywords

    • Foreign Policy
    • German Foreign Policy
    • British Foreign Policy
    • Coalition Politics

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