Latest News

Like all modern presidents before him, President Obama has appointed friends and donors to about 30 percent of diplomatic posts, often in glamorous and safe locales in Europe and Asia. Donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process say that competition for these posts is so tight this year, and Mr. Obama's network of big donors and bundlers so vast, that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered.

Officially, of course, there are no such requirements for would-be ambassadors. But in a recent study, two researchers — Johannes W. Fedderke and Dennis C. Jett, both professors of international relations at Pennsylvania State University — computed theoretical prices for different postings.

Titled "What Price the Court of St. James's? Political Influences on Ambassadorial Postings of the United States of America," the paper looks at diplomatic appointments in the Obama administration through January 2011. Dr. Fedderke and Dr. Jett theorize that the most desirable postings are those to countries "that are not obscure, dangerous, poor or of low interest to tourists." Where "political campaign contributions (financial or otherwise) exercise an influence on the nature of posting received," the desirability of a posting should correspond to the size of the campaign contribution.

The researchers compared available information on donors' direct political contributions and "bundling" — money raised on behalf of Mr. Obama by supporters — with data on the national income of host countries, their relative level of safety, and the robustness of their tourist industries.

Not surprisingly, the authors found that politically connected ambassadors, including former aides as well as donors, were statistically more likely to be posted to countries in the Caribbean, North America and Central America. But those whose political connections to Mr. Obama were measured in dollars, rather than administration service, had an increased chance of representing the United States in Western Europe, and a markedly smaller chance of serving in, say, Central Asia or sub-Saharan Africa. The study found that political ambassadors who had made campaign donations of $550,000, or bundled contributions of $750,000, had a 90 percent chance of being posted to a country in Western Europe.

And what do these postings "cost?" Ambassadorial appointments do not, of course, come with price tags. But by combining information on what current ambassadors contributed along with data on the desirability of the ambassadors' host countries, Dr. Fedderke and Dr. Jett arrived at "implied prices" for a selection of highly sought positions. The figures did not represent how much donors actually gave or raised to get the jobs, the researchers said, but rather their theoretical value in fund-raising terms. Those numbers in turn give a sense, Dr. Fedderke said, of how attractive each posting is in relation to the others.

"What we can observe is data on contributions and postings," Dr. Fedderke said in an interview. "And on the basis of that, we can infer an implicit valuation on postings in monetary terms — even if they haven't contributed that much."

When isolating a country's wealth over other factors, Luxembourg came in at the top of the chart, with a posting there valued at $3.1 million in direct contributions, while an appointment to Portugal was predicted to have a value of $602,686 in personal contributions. The model suggests that bundlers can get the same posts for less: Portugal was valued at about $341,160 in bundled contributions, Luxembourg at $1.8 million.

When factoring in a country's tourist trade, however, France and Monaco top the list, with the level of personal contributions at $6.2 million and bundled contributions at $4.4 million.

The prices, authors note, vary considerably depending on which factors to emphasize. And in some cases, the actual nominees appeared to "overpay" for their positions — raising or giving more than the model would suggest was necessary — and in some cases "underpay." That is because some donors bargain poorly for their positions, the authors suggest, while others may possess attributes (business experience, a personal connection to the president) that aid their case. But regardless of the model, Dr. Fedderke and Dr. Jett found, political ambassadors are more likely to be appointed to those countries that are wealthy, popular tourist destinations and safe.

And what price is the Court of St. James's — diplomatic-speak for Britain, the nation's most prestigious post? "The price for the Court of St. James's," the authors find, "appears to lie between $650,000 and $2.3 million."