Politics at the Water's Edge: The Presidency, Congress, and US Policy toward North Korea

Abstract

This article seeks to explain why the Clinton and Bush administrations ultimately failed to prevent a nuclear North Korea. It finds the origins of this failure in the relations between the executive and the legislative branches and, more specifically, different government types: unified government and divided government. It particularly emphasizes the role of Congress and partisan politics in the making of US policy toward North Korea. This study finds that divided government played a pivotal role. Partisan politics are also central to the explanation: politics did not stop at the water's edge. A divided US government produced more passive policies toward North Korea than a unified US government, while a unified government produced more active policies. Moreover, a unified government with a Republican President produced more aggressive policies toward North Korea, whereas a unified government with a Democratic President produced more conciliatory policies.