Geoffrey Garrett challenges the conventional wisdom about the domestic effects of the globalization of markets in the industrial democracies: the erosion of national autonomy and the demise of leftist alternatives to the free market. He demonstrates that globalization has strengthened the relationship between the political power of the left and organized labour and economic policies that reduce market-generated inequalities of risk and wealth. Moreover, macroeconomic outcomes in the era of global markets have been as good or better in strong left-labour regimes ('social democratic corporatism') as in other industrial countries. Pessimistic visions of the inexorable dominance of capital over labour or radical autarkic and nationalist backlashes against markets are significantly overstated. Electoral politics have not been dwarfed by market dynamics as social forces. Globalized markets have not rendered immutable the efficiency-equality trade-off.
• Combination of rigorous social science methods with much more accessible introductory and concluding chapters • Sophisticated understanding of both democratic political processes and open economy macroeconomics • Estimates of the interactive effects on the economy of globalization and domestic politics
Contents
List of tables and figures; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Politics, policy and performance; 3. Market integration and domestic politics; 4. Economic policy; 5. Economic performance; 6. The 1990s and beyond; Notes; References; Index.
Review
'… an impassioned and crystal clear call to defend the possibility of politics. As such, it deserves to be widely read and welcomed.' Political Studies
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