Strange bedfellows and us China policy in the era of polarized politics

Party polarization is the new buzzword in American politics and yet partisanship seems to play such a small role in determining congressional votes on China policy. We still do not know much about how polarized politics in Washington actually exerts influence in the making of U.S. policy toward Beijing. Paying special attention to America’s response to China from 2001 through 2012, this article seeks to analyze the sources and processes of how party polarization affects foreign policymaking. I argue that with the U.S. president adopting a hands-off approach and parties being polarized, a coalition of ideologically extreme lawmakers is likely to take cross-partisan actions over China. In essence, individual rank-and-file lawmakers tend to step forward and speak out in a party-less manner in the era of polarized America and a rising China.