Transforming statecraft: The involvement of American state governments and governors in U.S. foreign relations.

摘要

This dissertation merges the literature of international relations, foreign policy analysis, federalism, and U.S. state politics to explain the way in which U.S. states and governors are increasingly involved in American foreign relations. The project argues that these subnational actors should be analyzed in international relations scholarship because they are significant transgovernmental actors and participate in transnational relations. Chapters describe the changing governorship in which the professionalization of U.S. state governments has enabled governors and U.S. states to become engaged internationally since the 1950s. The dissertation also shows how changing political and economic conditions in the American federal system and in the international system brought U.S. states (and other subnational governments) into the realm of world politics.;Analysis is performed on governors' generally-defined foreign relations activities as well as U.S. states' and governors' foreign economic activities, such as the use of governors' overseas missions to recruit foreign investment and promote exports. Hypotheses related to gubernatorial power, economic interdependence, geography, and party are tested with statistical analysis performed on U.S. states between 1995 and 2006. This is combined with information and context provided by the author's numerous interviews with U.S. state and federal government officials in the U.S. and overseas as well as persons associated with relevant non-governmental organizations. The author's interviews with twelve current and former governors add perspective as well.;Findings indicate that border state governors with greater informal powers are most likely to participate in foreign relations and to do so during a time of war. The economic size of a U.S. state is also a factor as well as other socioeconomic variables. In the foreign economic realm, results show that both U.S. states' international offices and governor-led missions overseas aid in attracting foreign investment and promoting exports and higher levels of educational attainment benefit these goals. While Republican governors are more likely to participate in overall foreign relations activity, Democratic governors are more successful at attracting foreign investment. This topic provides both empirical and theoretical challenges to the current literature and examines a subject likely to remain important for years to come.