Internationalism in Congress

Abstract

This article explores the conditions under which Congress supports U.S. involvement in international affairs. While Presidents have tended to support internationalist foreign policies, Congress, pre-occupied with district and state-level concerns, has shown more reticence in this area. Probit analysis was used to study internationalist, presidential support votes taken in the House and Senate from 1948 to 1994. The results suggest that while a mix of foreign and domestic factors affects the level of congressional internationalism, domestic economic factors have the most consistent impact across chambers. When economic indicators are depressed, so too is congressional support for presidential internationalism.