Spatial models are increasingly finding entrance into the analysis of international relations. These models are perfectly appropriate as long as the relevant policy or negotiation space is unidimensional or the actors are truly unitary. But the recent discovery of the domestic arena questions the appropriateness of the unitary actor assumption. Hence, using spatial models becomes questionable. This article discusses the limitations of spatial models in this context and shows under what conditions the nonunitariness of actors poses no problems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Achen, C. H. 1988. A state with bureaucratic politics is representable as a unitary rational actor. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, August, Washington, DC.
2.
Achen, C. H. 1995. How can we tell a unitary rational actor when we see one? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April, Chicago.
3.
Arrow, K. J. 1951. Social choice and individual values. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
4.
Bartholdi, J. J., III , L. S. Narasimhan, and C. A. Tovey. 1991. Recognizing majority-rule equilibrium in spatial voting games. Social Choice and Welfare8:183-197.
5.
Bates, R. H. , and B. Weingast. 1995. A new comparative politics: Integrating rational choice and interpretivist perspectives. Paper presented at the “Analysis of Political Institutions” Summer workshop, North-western University, July, Evanston, IL.
6.
Black, D. 1958. Theory of committees and elections. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Bueno de Mesquita, B.1997. A decision-making model: Its structure and form. International Interactions23:235-266.
8.
Bueno de Mesquita, B. , D. Newman, and A. Rabushka. 1985. Forecasting political events: The future of Hong Kong. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
9.
Bueno de Mesquita, B. , and F. N. Stokman, eds. 1994. European community decision making: Models, applications and comparisons. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
10.
Calvert, R. L.1985. The value of biased information: A rational choice model of political advice. Journal of Politics47:530-555.
11.
Casella, A. , and B. R. Weingast. 1995. Elements of a theory of jurisdictional change. In Politics and institutions in an integrated Europe, edited by B. Eichengreen, J. Frieden, and J. van Hagen, 11-35. Berlin: Springer.
12.
Cederman, L. -E. 1994. Unpacking the national interest: An Analysis of preference aggregation in ordinal games. In Game theory and international relations, edited by P. Allan and C. Schmidt, 50-73. Aldershot, UK: Elgar.
13.
Cox, G. W. 1980. Veto groups and stability in voting institutions. Austin: University of Texas at Austin.
14.
Crombez, C.1996. Legislative procedures in the European community. British Journal of Political Science26:199-228.
15.
Crombez, C.1997a. Policy making and commission appointment in the European Union. Aussenwirtschaft52:63-82.
16.
Crombez, C.1997b. The co-decision procedure in the European Union. Legislative Studies Quarterly22:97-119.
17.
Downs, G. W. , and D. M. Rocke. 1990. Tacit bargaining, arms races, and arms control. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
18.
Downs, G. W. , and D. M. Rocke. 1995. Optimal imperfection? Domestic uncertainty and institutions in international relations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
19.
Feld, S. L. , B. Grofman, R. Hartly, M. Kilgour, and N. Miller. 1987. The uncovered set in spatial voting games. Theory and Decision23:129-155.
20.
Hammond, T. H. , and J. H. Knott. 1996. Who controls the bureaucracy? Presidential power, congressional dominance, legal constraints, and bureaucratic autonomy in a model of multi-dimensional policymaking. Journal of Law, Economics & Organization12:119-166.
21.
Hammond, T. H. , and G. J. Miller. 1987. The core of the Constitution. American Political Science Review81:1155-1174.
22.
Haney, P. J. , R. Q. Herzberg, and R. K. Wilson. 1992. Advice and consent: Unitary actors, advisory models, and experimental tests. Journal of Conflict Resolution36:603-633.
23.
Hubschmid, C. , and P. Moser. 1997. The cooperation procedure in the EU: Why was the European Parliament influential in the decision about car emission standards?Journal of Common Market Studies35:225-242.
24.
Iida, K.1993. When and how do domestic constraints matter? Two-level games with uncertainty. Journal of Conflict Resolution37:403-426.
25.
Koehler, D. H.1990. The size of the yolk: Computations for odd- and even-numbered committees. Social Choice and Welfare7:231-245.
26.
Koehler, D. H.1992. Limiting median lines frequently determine the yolk: A rejoinder. Social Choice and Welfare9:37-41.
27.
Koehler, D. H.1996. Committee choice and the core under supramajority rule: Results from simulation of majority choice in 2-dimensional space. Public Choice87:281-301.
28.
Kramer, G. H.1972. Sophisticated voting over multidimensional choice spaces. Journal of Mathematical Sociology2:165-180.
29.
Mayer, F. W.1992. Managing domestic differences in international negotiations: The strategic use of internal side payments. International Organization46:793-818.
30.
McKelvey, R. D.1975. Policy related voting and electoral equilibrium. Econometrica43:815-843.
31.
McKelvey, R. D.1979. General conditions for voting intransitivities in formal voting models. Econometrica47:1085-1111.
32.
McKelvey, R. D.1986. Covering, dominance, and institution-free properties of social choice. American Journal of Political Science30:283-314.
33.
Miller, N. R.1980. A new “solution set” for tournaments and majority voting. American Journal of Political Science24:68-96.
34.
Miller, N. R. 1995. Committees, agendas, and voting. Chur, Switzerland: Harwood.
35.
Miller, N. R. , B. Grofman, and S. L. Feld. 1989. The geometry of majority rule. Journal of Theoretical Politics1:379-406.
36.
Milner, H. V. 1997. Interests, institutions, and information: Domestic politics and international relations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
37.
Mo, J.1994. The logic of two-level games with endogenous domestic coalitions. Journal of Conflict Resolution38:402-422.
38.
Mo, J.1995. Domestic institutions and international bargaining: The role of agent veto in two-level games. American Political Science Review89:914-924.
39.
Morgan, T. C.1984. A spatial model of crisis bargaining. International Studies Quarterly28:407-426.
40.
Morgan, T. C.1990. Power, resolve and bargaining in international crises: A spatial theory. International Interactions15:279-302.
41.
Morgan, T. C. 1994. Untying the knot of war. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
42.
Morrow, J. D.1986. A spatial model of international conflict. American Political Science Review80:1131-1150.
43.
Moser, P.1996. The European parliament as a conditional agenda setter: What are the conditions? A critique of Tsebelis (1994). American Political Science Review90:834-838.
44.
Nicholson, M. 1997. Rational and irrational actors and the stability of preferences. Paper presented at the Joint Session of Workshops of the ECPR, February, Bern, Switzerland.
45.
Ordeshook, P. C. 1986. Game theory and political theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
46.
Plott, C.1967. A notion of equilibrium and its possibility under majority rule. American Economic Review57:787-806.
47.
Putnam, R. D.1988. Diplomacy and domestic politics: The logic of two-level games. International Studies Quarterly42 (3): 427-460.
48.
Schneider, G. , and L. E. Cederman. 1994. The change of tide in political cooperation: A limited information model of European integration. International Organization48:633-662.
49.
Schofield, N. , B. Grofman, and S. L. Feld. 1988. The core and the stability of group choice in spatial voting games. American Political Science Review82:195-211.
50.
Steunenberg, B.1994. Decision making under different institutional arrangements: Legislation by the European community. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics150:642-669.
51.
Stone, R. E. , and C. A. Tovey. 1992. Limiting median lines do not suffice to determine the yolk. Social Choice and Welfare9:33-35.
52.
Tsebelis, G. 1993. The core, the uncovered set, and conference committees in bicameral legislatures. Los Angeles: UCLA.
53.
Tsebelis, G.1994. The power of the European parliament as a conditional agenda setter. American Political Science Review88:128-142.
54.
Tsebelis, G.1995. Conditional agenda setting and decision making inside the European parliament. Journal of Legislative Studies1:65-93.
55.
Tsebelis, G.1996. More on the European parliament as a conditional agenda setter: Response to Moser. American Political Science Review90:834-838.
56.
Tsebelis, G.1997. Maastricht and the democratic deficit. Aussenwirtschaft52:29-56.
57.
Tsebelis, G. , and J. Money. 1997. Bicameralism. New York: Cambridge University Press.