Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2016
This paper attempts to describe Consultative Parties’ (CPs) patterns of participation at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) during the 1998–2011 period. The results of this work show that a subset of the original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty exert the greatest political influence on ATCMs, and can therefore be seen as the main ‘propellers’ of the ATCM system. Although the performance of some of the non-original signatories is becoming increasingly consistent, the system still offers the appearance of being rather asymmetric and endogamic. In addition, a number of factors that might explain the patterns of participation observed are presented and discussed, as a contribution that may allow for achieving a more comprehensive picture of how the work of the ATCMs unfolds through time. The article concludes by presenting likely directions towards which future research on behavioural aspects of Antarctic policy making can be orientated.