The Foreign Service Journal, May 2005

took the lead in modifying the per- ceived oversights and excesses of the Democratic Carter administra- tion shows that partisan interests played a secondary or relatively unimportant role in the U.S. domes- tic debate. Even after Congress rewrote and passed the Taiwan Relations Act in April 1979, this pat- tern persisted: Democratic senators and representatives such as Adlai Stevenson, John Glenn, Richard Stone and George McGovern remained active in re- sisting the Carter administration’s continuing perceived “tilt” toward the PRC, against the USSR and away from Taiwan. Similarly, domestic interest groups and constituent groups played a role in the debate, but not a decisive one. Instead, the major protagonists argued their cases mainly on policy grounds, acting out of sincere concern about the implica- tions of the proposed policy shift for the triangular U.S.-China-USSR and U.S.-China-Taiwan relationships. In addition, the congressional opposi- tion reflected the historic institution- al rivalry between the executive and legislative branches. The Carter administration made effective use of U.S. constitutional powers that give the executive branch the lead in the making of U.S. foreign policy. It also kept significant initiatives secret, placing congressional opponents in a reactive F O C U S M A Y 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 In recent years, as U.S.-China relations have improved, some opponents have resumed efforts to focus on the China threat — but with little success.