The Informational Role of International Institutions and Domestic Politics.

This paper investigates how the existence of international institutions combined with domestic politics shape the behavior of democratic leaders. While it seems unsurprising that leaders who are truly concerned about foreign policy outcomes will consult international institutions, our results show that leaders with private agendas can also be forced to behave like the former because of their electoral concerns. As a result, there is a welfare gain for domestic audience when there are international institutions. The paper contributes to the literature on international institutions as well as the literature on democratic peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]