PART I: THE PROBLEM 1. Triumph of Globalism: American Trade Politics PART II: THEORY 2. Political Science Trade Theory 3. Superpower Trade Politics PART III: HISTORICAL CASES 4. Going Global: The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1945 5. Atlantic Partnership: The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 6. Trilateralism: The Trade Act of 1974 7. The New Multilateralism: The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 PART IV: CONCLUSIONS 8. Triumph of Globalism: Politics, Theory, and Policy
Biography
Orin Kirshner teaches American politics at Florida Atlantic University. He has been a senior fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a visiting fellow at the Wuhan University WTO Studies School (People's Republic of China), and the executive director of the Global Environment & Trade Study (GETS).
"Kirshner’s careful study underscores a conflict between U.S. trade policy, long shaped by the global priorities of large corporations and government elites, and the everyday concerns of ordinary citizens. He demonstrates that the transfer of trade policy from Congress to the Executive, and then to the WTO bureaucracy, has worrisome consequences for democratic governance in nation states. Kirshner’s thoughtful analysis of the enduring alliance between big business and big government merits special attention from both students of trade policy and a wider audience of informed citizens."
—Alfred E. Eckes, Ohio University, former Chairman and Commissioner of the U.S. International Trade Commission"Kirshner’s sharp analysis clarifies the real sources and stakes of American trade policy, and their connection to the international political economy of globalization. With historical and theoretical depth, he shows that the delegation of trade policy-making to elite institutions poses serious challenges to democracy and endangers the relationship of citizens to the state."
—Joseph G. Peschek, Hamline University"Kirshner convincingly demonstrates the primacy of foreign policy, even in the area of trade politics, showing how the logic of America's imperial role led to changes in specific domestic legislative practices and in the nature of American democracy more broadly."
—Herman M. Schwartz, University of Virginia
