The Struggle On The Approval Of Covenant Of The League Of Nations From The View Of Two-Level Games Theory

The League of Nations was an international organization established after The First World War. Although its nature, role and influence has been fraught with controversy, it could not be denied that it was the first time people tried to prevent war through establishing international organization and collective security, which should be given credit to. However, it should be pointed out that after the Covenant of the League of Nations being reached among major nations, it failed to be approved in the United States of America. On November the19th,1919, the Senate of the USA vetoed the Covenant, and the nation never joined the League of Nations.This article is aimed to examine how the United States of America negotiate with other major nations such as Britain on the first level to reach an agreement and how different actors struggled during the period of approval. Based on the two-level negotiation theory, this article tried to analyze the environment and factors that would influence the bargaining results, especially on the second level.This thesis is consisted of three major parts. The first part introduces the research theory and theoretical frame. After analyzing the shortcomings of the traditional method, it introduces the two-level game theory which was first proposed by Putnam and then developed by various scholars. Then it presents the theoretical basis of this article.The second part is attempted to gain a clear idea of the relevant historical facts. Mainly based on the historical analysis, it reviews the process of negotiation to establish the League of Nations and the struggle for approval afterwards. Then it research the win sets and contradictions on the first level and second level respectively, which was direct and vital influence on the final results. The third part is intended to analyze the factors which may influence the size of the win sets. It proposes five assumptions that domestic interests, bargaining environment, political institution, negotiation strategy and negotiator themselves are the main factors.