Acting on the Hill: Congressional Assertiveness in U.S. Foreign Policy

Taking the Lead: Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs in U.S. Foreign Policy

“…Not only is Congress as an institution becoming more assertive in foreign policy, but individual foreign policy entrepreneurship in Congress is also becoming more common (Scott and Carter 2002). The data presented here on the characteristics and behavior of congressional foreign policy entrepreneurs offer a useful overview of the increasingly important element of congressional foreign policy activism.…”

Politics at the Water's Edge: The Presidency, Congress, and the North Korea Policy of the United States

“…Scott & Carter (2002) also argue that Congress has become more assertive since World War II. They examined congressional foreign policy activity from 1946 to 1997 to gauge the competing claims between the resurgence school (which argues that presidential leadership on foreign affairs has been eroded by increased congressional activity : Franck & Weisband, 1979;Destler, Gelb, & Lake, 1984;Holsti & Rosenau, 1984;Melanson, 1996), and the acquiescence school (which holds that congressional activity declined: Hinckley, 1994).…”

“…One that has received particular attention is the question of which branch makes U. S. foreign policy. 8 Although many studies show that Congress has become more active, assertive, and aggressive in U.S. foreign policy making since Vietnam (Franck & Weisband, 1979;Sundquist, 1980;Ripley & Lindsay, 1993;Scott & Carter, 2002), the large picture is that interbranch relations have rather been "fluid and dynamic, with neither Congress nor the president always predominant" (Rosati & Scott, 2007, 313). Many other studies confirm Rosati and Scott's (2007) judgment that Congress has long played an important role in Some argue that Congress prevails (Cutler, 1980;Szamuely, 1987;Jones & Marini, 1988;Crovitz & Rabkin, 1989;Cheney 1990), while others argue that Congress has lost its willpower in the competition with the President, especially in the foreign policy decision making process (Schlesinger, 1973;Berkowitz, Bock, & Fuccillo, 1977;Koh, 1988;Hinckley, 1994;Peterson, 1994b;Peterson, 1994c;Weissman, 1995;Wolfensberger, 2002;Ornstein & Mann, 2006;Ohaegbulam, 2007;Fisher, 2008;Cooper, 2009;Hansen & Friedman, 2009).…”

“…Meernik (1995) argues that Congress is more likely to attempt to restrict the presidential use of force under divided government. Scott & Carter (2002) Carter (1998) concludes that "the phenomenon of divided government further escalates the impact of an increasingly partisan and ideological policy making process" (128).…”

“…The increased partisanship noted by so many scholars can also be observed in congressional voting behavior (Fleisher, Bond, Krutz, & Hanna, 2000;Delaet, Rowling, & Scott, 2005). Scott & Carter (2002) conclude that "Congress has become less active but more assertive in its foreign policy behavior since World War II" (163).…”