Sectoral Coalitions: the Case of Services

Abstract

In the arena of international trade, coalitions have traditionally formed within countries, and occasionally among countries, in order to protect the domestic production of particular goods, services, or sectors of the economy (Rogowski, 1989). However, oil and interest rate shocks in the world economy during the 1980s, coupled with debt crises and the rise of a more market-oriented economic philosophy, brought about a dismantling of organized protectionism in many countries, eroding the coalitions which had so tightly resisted trade liberalization (Goldstein, 1998). Furthermore, the completion of the Uruguay Round (UR) led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the flourishing of regional trading blocs that can lead to small areas of hegemony in which predominant states enjoy yet more unfettered power. Far from obviating the need for developing countries to form coalitions on the basis of interests both within regions and across them, regionalism can underline the ongoing need for other coalitions. Within these regional and international fora, many countries have come sharply to recognize that the impact of trade liberalization is highly uneven. New interests have arisen which they must fight for — either alone or with other countries in a coalition.