An Analysis of the Dualistic Effects of Institutions and Power on U.S. Climate Diplomacy

    Abstract：In process of promoting global climate change governance, the U.S. government is trapped between the dualities of power and institutions：on the one hand it seeks to balance internal institutional contradictions between parties and localities by arriving at a political compromise; on the other hand it wants to increase its bargaining power so that it can guide the establishment of mechanisms for climate change talks and monopolize the development of space for dialogue. As a result，a contradiction has emerged in international climate governance：while the U.S. has strong bargaining power in the dialogue on global governance, problems rooted in American institutions have brought about a negative attitude and tie the hand of the U.S. with respect to its climate change diplomacy. This article analyzes the problem from the standpoint of U.S. institutions and power, and argues that the combination of strong bargaining power but increasingly divided decision making institutions will inevitably result in the continued erosion of the U.S. leadership position in global climate change governance talks. American climate diplomacy has exhibited very different characteristics during different periods, and it is not possible to simply dismiss this as a result of partisanship or the role of interest groups or party leadership, but is instead a product of the duality of U.S. institutional defects and its bargaining power.  