Points of Influence: Interest Groups and Congressional Foreign Policy Behavior.

Studies examining the influence of interest groups on U.S. foreign policy result in contradictory findings about the relationship between interest group behavior and policy outcomes. This paper, by focusing on details of various stages in the legislative process, explores conditions under which influence of interest groups on Congressional behavior on U.S. foreign policy is possible. In a study of the case of Congressional behavior on U.S. policy toward Cuba, we will see that interest groups may shape policies by impacting different stages of the legislative process. In this respect the paper will advance both the literature on international relations as well as the literature on interest group politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]