Quantitative Techniques for Studying Voting Behavior in the un General Assembly

Abstract

Much popular and scholarly writing abounds with references to blocs in the UN General Assembly, but there has been little systematic study of the actual patterns of group alignment in that body. This state of affairs may have resulted from the difficulties inherent in applying to international organization the methods used to analyze domestic legislative behavior. However, social scientists have recently developed some new techniques which may help to simplify this task and allow us to use quantitative procedures to study voting behavior in the General Assembly. This article will attempt to point out the difficulties encountered in analyzing bloc voting, and to indicate possible solutions, based on the use of quantitative techniques.