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Congress and Foreign Policy: Congressional Action on the Darfur Genocide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2009

Joseph Uscinski ,
Michael S. Rocca ,
Gabriel R. Sanchez  and
Marina Brenden
Joseph Uscinski
Affiliation:
University of Miami
Michael S. Rocca
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
Gabriel R. Sanchez
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
Marina Brenden
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
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Abstract

As of January 2008, more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced in the regions of Darfur and Chad. This event has not gone unnoticed in the United States, as the 109th United States Congress (2005–2006) considered several measures in the House of Representatives to provide funding and peacekeeping forces to quell the violence in Darfur. The goal of this article is to explain individual members' of Congress (MCs') support for Darfur legislation by examining the influence of their individual, district, and institutional characteristics. The Darfur case provides the opportunity to analyze factors critical to congressional behavior in a context where there is reason to expect an MC's usual set of incentives—e.g., reelection and adherence to party—to be less prominent. In all, we contribute to congressional and foreign policy research by parceling out the determinants of congressional support for foreign policy in comparison to domestic policy.

Type
Features
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , July 2009 , pp. 489 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 2009

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