In this highly original and thoroughly informed study, Cecil V. Crabb, Jr., Glenn Antizzo, and Leila S. Sarieddine identify and examine recurring modes or patterns of legislative behavior over the span of America's diplomatic experience. Although congressional involvement in foreign policy making has received much scholarly attention, this work is groundbreaking in that it focuses on those patterns of congressional conduct that have repeated themselves over time and, on the basis of experience, will probably continue to occur. Thus it creates a large, predictable framework of legislative activity concerning America's problems abroad to which students of U.S. foreign policy can relate Congress's actions in any era. The authors identify four models of legislative conduct -- congressional assertiveness and activism in foreign affairs, congressional acquiescence in diplomatic leadership by the president, a bipartisan approach, and a division-of-labor model in which both the president and Congress play significant but essentially different roles. In examining each of these modes, the authors explore the circumstances and factors that gave rise to each pattern and evaluate its positive and negative results for the overall foreign policy of the United States. Brimming with lively language and invaluable observations, Congress and the Foreign Policy Process offers a thought- provoking means to understanding a complex and important area in the study of American government.

Legislatures are arguably the most important political institution in modern democracies. The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies, written by some of the most distinguished legislative scholars in political science, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date description and critical assessment of the state of the art in this key area.

This book examines the various meanings and reviews the history of bipartisan foreign policymaking since World War II, presenting documents relating to bipartisan foreign policy and discussing legislative-executive consultation on foreign policy.