The Domestic Political Implications of Accession to the WTO

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

Do states make meaningful domestic changes in exchange for membership in international organizations? Many international organizations, such as the EU and the WTO, continue to grow in membership. Yet there are still unanswered questions regarding the effects of membership. I demonstrate that states make meaningful domestic changes during the process of joining international organizations, and I argue that these domestic changes are the result of the scrutiny from international organization gatekeepers faced by the acceding state during the accession negotiations. I test this argument using original data on the WTO accession process. In the WTO context, I demonstrate that acceding states make meaningful changes in three categories: trade policies, economic or political organization, and domestic governance. My findings demonstrate that states make deeper and more meaningful domestic changes, particularly in the area of domestic governance, when they face challengers in their accession working parties. More broadly, these findings speak to questions of how international organizations have leverage over states and how states can use accession to international organizations as a way to bring about and secure domestic political and economic reforms.

Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2013
EventPaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association -
Duration: Jan 1 2013 → …

Conference

ConferencePaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association
Period01/1/13 → …

DC Disciplines

  • Political Science

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