Interest Groups, Corruption and the Role of Democracy: Effects on Trade Policy
Abraham, David
2003
- Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: As the United States and multilateral institutions concurrently push both free trade and democracy on developing nations, questions emerge regarding the viability of advocating potentially divergent policies. Does free trade facilitate democracy? Or does democracy ... read morefacilitate free trade? Can free trade and democracy be advanced simultaneously? This paper examines the effects of interest groups and corruption on free trade and the role of democracy in enabling individuals to influence and distort trade policy. The author concludes that nations can advance both free trade and democracy and asserts that [1] Corruption and interest groups distort trade policies and current indices fail to calculate these effects; [2] There is need for a new system to address the effects of nontariff barriers on economic welfare and a greater role for the WTO in reducing these distortions; and [3] Without civil capacity building efforts and greater government "autonomy", developing countries will have even more distorted trade policies and possibly political instability.read less
- ID:
- n8710281p
- Component ID:
- tufts:UA015.012.DO.00028
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