Abstract
The rise of political polarization and partisan contestation over foreign and security policy has challenged traditional notions of bipartisanship and cross-party consensus in democratic countries. While partisan contestation seems to be prevalent, there are instances where cross-party consensus emerges. This paper theorizes a novel causal mechanism of partisan entrapment through which cross-party consensus can emerge in parliamentary democracies. The paper tests this novel mechanism by examining the partisan contestation over Germany’s military aid to Ukraine in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the party-political contestation of foreign and security policy and the scholarship on foreign policy consensus.
Panel: Military Interventions