Interest Groups in Foreign Trade Negotiations: Chile, Colombia and Peru in a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of interest groups (IGs) in trade policy making process. In particular, it analyzes the participation of the IGs in the negotiations of the free trade agreements (FTAs) that Chile, Colombia and Peru signed with USA. Even though these negotiations have been studied from the perspective of the participation of IGs, until now there is neither a comparative analysis on this specific topic, nor those studies focus on the analytical factors that this study bases on. Thus, this research aims to make a contribution through a comparative analysis on the role of IGs in FTAs negotiations, establishing the similarities and differences among the three cases, and testing some hypotheses the academic literature has developed regarding this issue. The paper concentrates only on 3 specific issues related to it: 1) the objectives that each country pursued through a FTA with USA, and whether they were shared or not by IGs; 2) the relationship between government and IGs during trade negotiations; and 3) the potential influence of IGs on trade policy making.