‘Two Level Games’, by Putnam, 1988
The differences, similarities and linkage between domestic and international systems has always been one of the most popular subjects in IR. Although some argue that there is no relationship between the two or rejects the effects on each other, we can easily observe the relation considering historical and contemporary relations especially on being part of international organizations and/or on international agreements resulting from negotiations. Before giving these examples, we can mention general framework of the article of Putnam, names as ‘Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games’(1988). In this article, Putnam asserts that each of domestic and international relations has an impact on and can determine the other by looking at ratification process, bureaucratic mechanism, reverberation, voluntary and involuntary defection and credibility of the commitment at Level I negotiators’ strategies, bargaining and Level II preferences and coalitions, institutions. I found this article very useful when I remember the most popular example for this assumption: the USA’ s membership to League of Nations. Although the institution was a part of ‘Wilsonian Idealism’ American Senate rejected to be a member of it.
If we consider more contemporary examples, the representatives of the USA and Republic of Turkey has agreed on using military bases for US intervention in Iraq in 2003, Turkish Parliamentary rejected it and it caused deteriation of relations between Turkey and the USA for a while. For this rejection we can consider reverberation which was general negative perception in Turkish society for US intervention in Iraq. I would also question the similarity between reverberation and ‘audience cost’ and say that reverberation can be general attitude but in ‘audience cost’ we witness some kind of ‘punishment’ after unrest of a policy by the government, for example it might not be elected in the next elections.
Currently, Turkish Prime Minister said that ”we call members of Turkish Parliamentary to collaborate for the ratification of the agreement with EU on refugee crisis and legislation of the EU required amendments for accession” on January 26, 2016 after the negotiations with the EU.
Lastly, I would also like to highlight one of the points that the State is not a monolithic organization rather a composition of various branches each of them has their own structure and ‘organizational interest’ which need to be coordinated under the ‘national interest’ like Putnam points out this structural differentiation in addition to the fact that leaders are part of both domestic and international arena being representatives of their party, their position in state structure in domestic politics and their state in the international arena.