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International Commitments and Democracy: The United States and the Federal Republic of Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Daniel G. Lang
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Extract

When citizens elect leaders whose policies conflict with standing international agreements, which claim deserves more respect, the treaty or the will of the majority? International law and democratic theory both point to constitutionalism as a way to address this dilemma. An examination of the effects of the elections of John F. Kennedy in 1961 and Willy Brandt in 1969 on U.S.-F.R.G. alliance commitments shows that the dilemma is not resolvable in principle, but that constitutional democracies adopt a variety of practices including consultation, public diplomacy, and commitment reinterpretation to make the tension between the two principles manageable.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , Spring 1995 , pp. 309 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1995

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References

My thanks to those whose comments improved earlier versions of this paper: David Clinton, James Baldi, Inis Claude, and the anonymous referees for the Review of Politics. I wish also to thank Lynchburg College's Faculty Research and Development Committee for its support.

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