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The Obama Administration and United States Trade Policy
Author(s) -
ASHBEE EDWARD,
WADDAN ALEX
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-923x.2010.02088.x
Subject(s) - administration (probate law) , ambiguity , political science , value (mathematics) , democracy , commercial policy , public administration , liberalization , political economy , economics , international trade , politics , law , philosophy , linguistics , machine learning , computer science
For all the focus on economic issues in the wake of the crisis of 2008 the Obama administration has remained ambiguous about a central component of economic policy. As both candidate and President, Obama has sent mixed messages about trade policy. This ambiguity reflects wider uncertainty within the Democratic Party about global trading relationships and this paper explores and assesses the reasons for this uncertainty. A large part of the answer lies in the disparate sources of support for the Democrats. That is, the party has courted support from interest groups and core groups of voters that have widely divergent views about the value of trade liberalisation.