A Society-Centered Approach to Trade Politics

This chapter examines a society-centered approach to trade politics. A society-centered approach argues that a government’s trade policy objectives are shaped by politicians’ responses to interest groups’ demands. The chapter develops the analytical tools central to a society-centered approach. It focuses first on interest-group preferences—which groups prefer protectionism, which groups prefer liberalization, and why? The chapter uses trade theory to develop some systematic expectations about trade policy preferences, and uses collective action theory to understand which groups will organize to pursue their interests. Trade between the United States and China has caused changes in the incomes earned by workers and capitalists in both countries. Abundant American capital and abundant Chinese labor both gained from trade. Scarce American labor and scarce Chinese capital both lost. The chapter focuses on political institutions, looking at how different institutional frameworks create different kinds of interest representation. It concludes by discussing some of the weaknesses of this approach.

Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Development and Aid · Law · World Trade Organization Law