The domestic sources of foreign policy 47 4 The domestic sources of foreign policy Introduction The adage 'politics stops at the water's edge' captures the tradition of foreign policy being an area where domestic political factionalism is sublimated to the interests of national security. This realist perspective on foreign policy and the communitarian pull of nationalism obscures both the complexity of decision making and the centrality of domestic factors in shaping the aims and outcomes of that process. Time-honoured questions such as who makes foreign policy and in whose interests, highlight the difficulty of ascribing simplistic, realist-tinged interpretations of foreign policy. The problems inherent in defining what constitutes the 'national interest' inspired closer examination of the sources of foreign policy decision making and the nature of the process itself and extensive investigation of the individual decision maker and the role of bureaucratic influences in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. This work, in turn, raises questions about how those elements outside the formal state structures of foreign policy decision making, but still within the sovereign confines of the state - societal actors, interests and values that reside in the domestic setting - are actually accounted for and integrated into the foreign policy process. Domestic influences outside the formal state structures - lobbyists, the media, class factors, constitutional restrictions - are clearly significant and in some cases central to the making of state foreign policy.1 For instance, societal actors, such as interest groups, actively engage the relevant state political actors in order to influence the foreign policy process in line with their concerns. At the same time, the formal and informal rules of political conduct within a given state are critical for shaping the manner in which this influence is exercised and the degree to which it is effective. Also, the overarching societal structure and its relationship to the state, that is, the role of elites and even class factors, can play a determining part in the orientation, access and particular forms that foreign policy assumes. Reflecting this complex mosaic, within FPA there are three basic approaches to understanding the impact of domestic factors on state foreign policy. Each is rooted in a different account of state-society relations and, therefore, reflects the assumptions and interests of that particular depiction of those relations. One approach sees the principal source of domestic influence in the actual structural form (i.e. institutions and regimes) of the state. A second approach sees foreign policy making as being driven by the nature of the economic system within states and, concurrently, in the interests of a narrow elite that traditionally has acted in what it perceives to be the national interest. A third approach sees foreign policy as the product of a competitive pluralist environment as expressed by the interplay between interest group politics and state decision makers and structures. In Chapter 4, we focus on the enduring importance of the domestic setting in shaping foreign policy. In particular, we analyse the three accounts referred to above and examine efforts to model foreign policy decision making at the domestic level. Finally, the neglected role of political parties in foreign policy making process is discussed. The enduring salience of the domestic An understanding of the relationship between foreign policy, the state and the domestic environment necessarily requires an investigation of the nature of the state and society as a prerequisite to a discussion of how these actors can affect the foreign policy process. Concurrently, there needs to be some recognition that what constitutes the domestic environment and its array of actors and interests, is to a large extent an artifice which can be permeated by 'outside' forces. While elsewhere in the book we discuss the role of the state - and its notable absence from the FPA literature - it is in scholarly work on the domestic environment that we find a more explicit commitment to established theoretical positions that reflect upon the nature of the state and its relationship to society. What these various approaches in FPA have in common is a belief that foreign policy is something that ls produced and legitimized by the state apparatus, even if its sources reside within the domestic sphere. Based on this, domestic actors actively seek to capture the policy debate on foreign policy through a variety of means - from the dispensing of financial largesse to political Mobilization strategies - and orient the policy choices made by the state i 48 The domestic sources of foreign policy towards their particular interests. Even those structuralist accounts which resist ascribing any autonomy of the state from societal - and in particular class interests - concede that factionalism within elite groups produces competition over foreign policy. Exactly how this process is said to occur is part of what differentiates the various approaches to the state. Moreover what we are characterizing as the 'domestic environment' is itself an object of contestation. It is arguable that societies, even within recent memory, mirrored the relative isolation which accompanies subjection to the spatial confines of sovereign territorial boundaries to a greater degree than do contemporary societies. There were also temporal barriers between communities, a product of the slow methods of transport and communication over geographic distances throughout most of human history. These circumstances re-enforced the particularist character of different societies giving rise to notions of cultural specificity and associated practices. These beliefs have gained currency with the rising tide of globalization and inform much of the discourse on topics such as state decline, the homo-genization of culture and the rise of global civil society (see Chapter 6 on globalization for more detail).2 At the same time, however, the historical record demonstrates that powerful ideas moved frequently in conjunction, for example, with the growing pace of international trade in earlier epochs such as in Europe in the sixteenth century. For instance, the reformist tracts that paved the way to Protestantism enjoyed a surprisingly robust circulation between city states and the patchwork of duchies, principalities and kingdoms that formed Europe's regional political system at that time. More recently, the phenomenal absorption of cellular phone technology by African societies - the world's poorest, saddled with abysmal infrastructures and as a result among the most isolated societies in the world - demonstrates that these seemingly adverse conditions need not be an insurmountable barrier. Perhaps it is a failure on our part, giddy from the near instantaneous forms of global communication, to imagine and recognize the possibilities inherent in slower forms of information sharing, and the hunger for knowledge and communication among peoples separated only by geography. This bundling of domestic and international concerns, captured by the unfortunate term 'inter-mestic", tends to make foreign policy issues subject to influence both external and internal to the territorial state to varying degrees. As far back as the 1970s, Peter Gourevitch recognized the possibilities of external influence over the shape and tenor of domestic debates - especially but not exclusively in relation to foreign The domestic sources of foreign policy 49 policy issues.3 He suggested that Waltz's 'second image', that is, the state level of analysis, is the 'reverse' of the conventional depiction in which influence flows only outward, from the domestic setting to the external environment. Mansbach, Ferguson and Lampert use the analogy of a cobweb to describe the international system and to capture the structural implications of this insight, depicting a process of constant interaction between state and non-state actors.4 In the face of ideas and pressures from abroad permeating state borders coupled with an ever-expanding web of international norms, rules and regimes designed to regulate state conduct in particular spheres, the capacity of foreign policy decision makers to construct their policy formulations and actions with sole reference to domestic forces, seems ever more remote. Nevertheless, despite the prevailing rapid circulation of ideas, pressures and material goods characteristic of the contemporary global setting, there are some defining features of the international political system that allow for reference to the enduring saliency and indeed centrality of the domestic environment in the foreign policy process. Fundamental among these is the legal status accorded to the idea of sovereignty, which, of course, gives to the state primacy over a fixed territory and its population. Recognition of the rights of governments within states to exercise this authority even with the emergence of a discourse on the 'responsibility to protect', and the inability of societies to have alternative means of expressing their political aspirations other than through sovereignty, is a powerful, defining characteristic of the international system. The fact of citizenship is an acknowledgement of the constraints on individual action. Moreover, the legal structures of states, which provide formal status to corporative entities ranging from businesses to NGOs, define the parameters to their conduct.5 The establishment of tax havens in island states, the movement of multinationals from one state to another in search of the most beneficial tax and labour conditions, and the utilization of territory to accommodate political refugees are all signs that states and the domestic conditions within them are crucial sites of relatively autonomous political (and economic) activity, which should be considered with the utmost seriousness. This is given concrete expression through everything from corporate taxes, the possibility of lawsuits and the degree of media freedom that is specific to the particular domestic setting of a given state. Socio-cultural influences - reflected for example by governing practices in different states - introduce local variation into what otherwise might be relative homogeneity within regions.6 The adoption of western ideas of sovereignty, for instance, has not been wholesale, but 50 The domestic sources of foreign policy rather has been a process mediated by local elites and aligned to their needs, established institutions and foundational ideas. This process -which Amitav Acharya characterizes as 'norm localization' - gives primacy to domestic actors, institutions and settings in assessing the salience of 'foreign' ideas in relation to prevailing local circumstances.7 This reassertion of the domestic in the trajectory of the norm cycle is not only a cogent explanation for the partial adaptation or even rejection of externally sourced ideas, for example, in relation to women's rights by 'non-western* societies, but also reminds us that local societal factors exercise a determining influence over ideational matters.8 Finally, the indisputable position of the foreign policy decision makers within this complex setting at the centre of a sovereign-based system of authority, derives its substantive legitimacy from the domestic society, which is reified in legal terms by the international system. While these policy decision makers may seek sometimes to boost their standing and prestige by appealing to international actors, ultimately and crucially their authority is dependent upon domestic sources. The domestic structures approach: constitutional structures and political regimes For many FPA scholars, the most significant source of foreign policy is the domestic structure of the nature of the state political institutions, the features of society and the institutional arrangements linking state and society and channelling societal demands into the political system. Katzenstein, Krasner, Risse-Kappen and others provide detailed descriptions of the relative strengths and weakness governing relations between differing state structures and society.9 According to Risse-Kappen, for instance, the importance of the state structure resides in the fact that it is the crucial site of foreign policy decision making and, mediated through constitutional arrangements, is the area where state and society 'negotiate' the country's international relations.10 Here, within the particular constitutional framework of the state, domestic institutions and interest groups operate, devising coalition-building strategies that ultimately demonstrate the effectiveness of domestic influences over foreign policy. The rules of political participation influence formal politics and the conduct of political parties in relation to international issues. Traditionally, the executive has the authority to formulate and implement foreign policy, endowed by the constitution or convention; the legislature and other institutions have limited powers of judicial review and budgetary control- The domestic sources of foreign policy 51 The number of points of access between societal groups and decision makers determines the degree to which there is public input to state foreign policy. For example, France has very few access points to the executive and is 'state-dominated' because the public plays only a limited role in foreign policy making; in the US there are multiple access points to the executive, foreign policy is 'society-dominated' and the public has many opportunities to influence it.11 Another aspect of the domestic structure that influences foreign policy is the political regime type. Authoritarian regimes with no electoral mandate from their populations and historically have used foreign issues to distract from domestic difficulties. George Kennan's 'X telegram' and subsequent articulation of America's 'containment policy' towards the Soviet Union was predicated on just such an analysis of the roots of Soviet foreign policy.12 From this perspective, democratic (or 'pluralist') regimes tend to pursue fewer foreign policy 'adventures' that are out of step with the interests of their society. However, research shows that lack of access to information and other bureaucratic obstacles constructed by authoritarian states may also exist in democratic states and restrict public involvement in foreign policy decision making.13 The differences between these two types of regimes in this respect are sometimes small. In the context of regime-oriented considerations of the domestic origins of foreign policy there is the 'democratic peace debate', which derives from Kant's 'perpetual peace' theory and his model of an international order which only 'republican' states are allowed to join. Michael Doyle replacing the term 'republican' with 'liberal', points to statistical analyses that support the fact that stable constitutional liberal democracies do not engage in wars with one another.14 His rationale is, first, that a 'cultural-normative' interpretation suggests that stable democracies resolve conflict through negotiation and bargaining and, therefore, favour these same approaches in foreign policy, especially towards other democratic regimes. However, in the context of non-democratic regimes, democratic leaders cast off their inhibitions >n relation to conflict. Concurrently, a 'structural-institutional' interpretation suggests that democratic regimes are founded on a system °f checks and balances that effectively slow decision making while emphasizing the public agreement with foreign policy decisions in relation to the declaration of war, all of which serves as an internal deterrent to promulgating war between democracies. Although the empirical basis for democratic peace theory is open to contestation °n several grounds, there is general acceptance that the data broadly suPports this proposition.15 52 The domestic sources of foreign policy The notion of "middle powers' introduces another variant into the relationship between political regime and foreign policy behaviour. Cooper, Higgot and Nossal propose that ideational and material attributes combine to contribute to a self-conscious assertion of national role - echoing some of the work on role theory - that produces distinctive foreign policy conduct in high-income but 'middle ranked states such as Canada and Australia'.16 Middle power foreign policies are usually multilateralist, bridge-building and concerned with the promotion of norms. Some scholars include developing countries, such as Malaysia and South Africa, in the group of middle power states.17 This approach to identifying middle powers is rooted in the prevailing power hierarchies of states (and avoids trying to develop objective material indicators for their rankings), and relies on domestic perceptions of capacity in relation both to other states and to the particular sector (such as trade) or foreign policy issue under consideration. Scholarship on political regimes within different geographic regions has moved away from analyses of the impact of regimes on foreign policy, to emphasize the regional systemic patterns and local particulars of history and society in shaping foreign policy conduct. For instance, Africanists studying foreign policy who seek to integrate their work into the established typologies of African political regimes, for example, neo-patrimonial to settler oligarchies believe that these have exercised a determining influence over the structures of foreign policy decision making and implementation.18 In studies of the foreign policy of Middle Eastern states the predominance of authoritarian states backed by security services has been noted.19 In Southeast Asia, the convergence of elite interests and cultural specificities has produced a regional foreign policy style which some academics and practitioners characterize as the "ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) way'.20 In some ways, this trend echoes earlier thinking in FPA related to the diagnosis of 'nation-type' and national attribute theory as a means of developing a comprehensive predictive analysis of foreign policy behaviour.21 However, unlike the comparative FPA project, there as yet is no renewal of the effort to systematize these particularist features into a rigorously drawn and universal rationalist framework (much less one that seeks to codify the variables as in the comparative FPA project).22 Stephen Krasner, while critical of what he characterizes as structural approaches to the analysis of state foreign policies, proposes an approach that takes the historical evolution of the state as a starting point for understanding foreign policy conduct.23 Work on regions, such as Buzan and Weaver's regional security complexes, seems to be anticipating a return to the systematic consideration of foreign policy The domestic sources of foreign policy 53 conduct through its emphasis on the specificities of local factors as a way of interpreting regional state behaviour. Laura Neack's attempt to link state type to foreign policy conduct, which includes a focus on the category of 'middle powers', is an example of such an approach.24 The 'structuralist' approach: economic systems and social class Among structuralist writings in the Marxist tradition, we can find the roots of foreign policy and, more particularly, the motivation for exploitative policies, such as imperialism and colonialism, in the nature of the capitalist economic system. According to Karl Marx, although the state may be nothing more than a committee representing bourgeois interests, it performs a critical function in ordering the interests of capital in relation to labour and markets.25 This instrumentalist view denies the existence of state autonomy in real terms, but suggests that state legitimacy is dependent on the population having a perception of its autonomy.26 The literature is dominated by debates on the relative autonomy of the state from the elites, but those scholars in this tradition agree that a narrow social class uses its control over the economy to ensure that foreign policy conforms to its interests. For structuralists, the crucial divisions between the hierarchy of the states fitted within the international political economy are the most important guide to foreign policy conduct. A centre-periphery relationship, based upon the economic exploitation of non- and semi-industrialized states of the 'Third World' (or the south), produces a foreign policy oriented towards maintaining this relationship between the industrialized core and the countries of the periphery. Bruce Moon examines how the 'peripheral state' is driven by the need for domestic legitimacy - bolstered by international recognition - alongside the pursuit of economic or developmental aims.27 Capturing the state is crucial for domestic actors to enhance their accumulation of resources. Robert Cox and Hein Marais, among others, suggest that in the developing countries there is a transnational capitalist class, which shares the norms and values of the leading capitalist countries, fostered by leading international institutions such as the World Bank.28 These local elites actively subvert local considerations in favour of their capitalist interests and, in so doing, perpetuate the exploitative relations °f economic dominance. This explains the foreign policy orientation towards western interests, in matters such as trade liberalization, by otherwise impoverished states, whose domestic industries and agri-Cultural sector suffer from open market access. O flu?