The Consistency of Inconsistency
Tracing Ontario's Opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6237220 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Donald E Abelson (0009-0003-4795-0089, Western University), Michael Lusztig (Western University) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 681-698 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008423900014438 |
| OpenAlex | W2096844727 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
Employing a rational choice perspective, this article seeks to explain the shift in the trade policy position of the Canadian province of Ontario during negotiations that led to the North American Free Trade Agreement. In doing so it highlights an important, though often overlooked, phenomenon: issue linkage in public policy construction. Early in 1993, Premier Bob Rae's New Democratic party government significantly shifted its position on the proposed agreement. While never actively supportive of the accord prior to 1993, the provincial government maintained close contact with federal trade negotiators as a means of advancing its core trade objectives. By February 1993, however, the government's position hardened perceptibly. Specifically, the government actively undertook to derail the proposed agreement. This article suggests that this shift cannot be understood in terms of growing dissatisfaction with the impending trade agreement, nor solely to a change in Ontario's trade policy preferences. Rather, it suggests that a broader perspective is needed, and argues that Ontario's position on NAFTA was linked to other priorities of the Rae government: namely, those in the fiscal policy arena
Commercial policy · Consistency (knowledge bases · Economics · Government (linguistics · International trade · Negotiation · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Public policy · Trade agreement · Canadian Policy and Governance · Finance · International Development and Aid · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration
The theory of political coalitions.
Governing the economy
Defending the National Interest
Political Control of the Economy
Faith & Fear
Public managers and policy communities
Environmental lobbying and political posturing
Neorealism as a Research Enterprise
The Logic of Two-Level Games with Endogenous Domestic Coalitions
Diplomacy and domestic politics
Solving Peel's Puzzle
The Ultimate Horizontal Issue
Political Solutions to Market Problems
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,09 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2022 (19) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |