Yang Jianguo, The Dual Political Game of the Carte Administration on the New Panama Canal Treaty (1977-1979)

　　The New Panama Canal Treaty in 1977 was one of the landmarks of foreign policy achievements of the Carte Administration. Signing and passing this treaty was attributed to the Carte Administration positively facing the challenges from both domestic and foreign political opponents. Confronting the Panamanian people with strong nationalism and the spirit of unyielding struggle, the Carte Administration made adaptions considering the long term national interests and the overall situation of America and accordingly made compromises and concessions in a moderate manner. In the meanwhile, facing the stubborn, conservative and decentralized Congressional forces, as well as the fierce competition among the executive branches, the Carte Administration, on the premise of holding the policy bottom line, actively guided and sought the understanding and support of the middle forces through skilful pressure and positive persuasion. This historical fact of the internal and external dual political game highlighted the typical duality of the function and effectiveness of the current American Constitutional system on the issue of effectively safeguarding and expanding the interests of America. On the one hand, seeking the maximum common denominator of understanding and support on Americas major foreign policies as far as possible could effectively increase the winning chips in the foreign political struggle. On the other hand, it objectively led to confusion and procrastination in decision making, excessive internal friction and depreciation of the implementation effect. Consequently, the final content seriously deviated from the original intention of the American major foreign policy.