The Electoral Connection and the War of the Future

How much does electoral politics affect U.S. foreign policy? "U.S. Politics and the War of the Future" examines the effect that the ¿electoral connection¿--a desire to be re-elected--played in Congress¿s responses to Presidential decisions to intervene militarily in Kosovo in 1999 and Libya in 2011. Those foreign policy decisions are exceptionally important because they may be the template for future U.S. military action abroad. Further, the interventions were so similar that they provide a natural experiment and allowed for the control of many factors that might have influenced congressional responses. The finding is that the electoral connection plays a significant role in Congressional decisions.