ABSTRACT
Assessing the degree and causes of national compliance with international commitments requires in the first instance a definition of compliance, as well as a definition of and measurement device for the commitments themselves. Assessing compliance so conceived requires isolating, identifying, interpreting and quantifying commitments in the communique. This chapter examines compliance along three dimensions. The first dimension assesses the degree to which compliance takes place by issue area. The second dimension examines compliance by country, focusing specifically on Canada and the United States. The final area examines the temporal dimension, and focuses specifically on the third cycle of Summitry beginning with the 1988 Toronto Summit and concluding with the 1995 Halifax Summit. Finally, the chapter draws on each of three theoretical frameworks, including regime theory, concert theory, and the recent extension of regime theory to embrace the effects of institutions, to provide a synthetic explanation of compliance with G7 commitments.
