The Monkey Cage publishes guest column by Philip Potter titled, "The next four years: how the election will shape foreign policy"

The Monkey Cage, a blog about politics and political science research, published a guest column by Philip Potter, which looks at trends in the relationship between presidential elections and American foreign policy. Drawing on recent studies about electoral margins and presidential experience, Potter notes several foreign policy implications.

"Presidents who win by a lot generally use this power to pursue their domestic agendas because the rewards are higher," Potter writes. "Those who win by a little are forced into the less constrained (but also less rewarding realm) of foreign policy."

Potter also points out that because presidents accrue foreign policy expertise gradually over time, returning administrations tend to be somewhat less prone to international crises than new administrations.