The Politics of Treaty Signature: The Role of Diplomats and Ties that Bind

Elsig, Manfred; Milewicz, Karolina (2017). The Politics of Treaty Signature: The Role of Diplomats and Ties that Bind. International Negotiation, 22(3), pp. 521-543. Brill, Nijhoff 10.1163/15718069-12341361

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The literature on international cooperation through legal commitments focuses chiefly on treaty ratification. What has received much less attention is that before states ratify treaties, they commit to treaties through the act of signature. This article addresses this research gap by investigating how a state’s decision to sign a treaty is affected by its diplomatic representation during treaty negotiations. Conceptualizing signature as a commitment step, we argue that participation in treaty negotiations translates into a “ties-that-bind” effect creating incentives for diplomats to support the treaty text leading to treaty signature. Our empirical analysis uses a new data set on signature and tests the argument for 52 multilateral treaties concluded between 1990 and 2005. Results confirm that participation in treaty making matters for signature but not necessarily for ratification.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > World Trade Institute 10 Strategic Research Centers > World Trade Institute
UniBE Contributor:	Elsig, Manfred
Subjects:	300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 380 Commerce, communications & transportation
ISSN:	1382-340X
Publisher:	Brill, Nijhoff
Language:	English
Submitter:	Pablo Rahul Das
Date Deposited:	05 Jun 2019 12:24
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:27
Publisher DOI:	10.1163/15718069-12341361
Related URLs:	Organisation
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/129382