Ideas, Interests, and American Trade Policy. By Judith Goldstein. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994. 268p. $39.95 cloth, $13.95 paper.

1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-253
Author(s):  
Henry R. Nau
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
American Trade

Commerce, Coalitions, and Factor Mobility: Evidence from Congressional Votes on Trade Legislation

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL J. HISCOX
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Capital Mobility ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Factor Mobility ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
The Past ◽  
Trade Politics ◽  
Over Time ◽  
American Trade ◽  
Trade Legislation

The extent to which political conflict over U.S. trade policy has led to clashes between broad-based class coalitions has varied significantly over time during the past two centuries. I argue that much of this variation can be explained by changes in economywide levels of interindustry factor mobility. Class distinctions between voters are more economically and politically salient when interindustry mobility is high; when mobility is low, industry distinctions become more critical and tend to split apart broader political coalitions. I report evidence indicating large changes in levels of labor and capital mobility over the last two centuries. These changes coincide with significant shifts in the character of American trade politics. Analysis of congressional voting on 30 major pieces of trade legislation between 1824 and 1994 provides evidence of large swings in coalition patterns.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Guisinger
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Industrial Economy ◽  
Trade Preferences ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
American Economy ◽  
American Trade ◽  
Do So

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book and its two interwoven puzzles: what are the predictors of Americans’ trade preferences in today’s post-industrial economy, and why do so few politicians attempt to take advantage of these preferences? After providing historical context for American trade policy, the chapter outlines an answer: that the changing American economy has untethered traditional sources of trade sentiment, resulting in diverse, countervailing, and difficult to mobilize sources of trade sentiment. As a result, in most political districts, discussion of trade has fallen by the wayside; and trade policy is increasingly being formulated and conducted outside of standard systems of voter-driven accountability. The chapter places this new argument in the context of existing literature on the domestic and international politics of trade policy and provides a chapter by chapter summary of the book.

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