Unexpected Bedfellows: The GATT, the WTO and Some Democratic Rights1

Abstract

The WTO system and democratic rights are unexpected bedfellows. The GATT ⁄WTO requires governments to adopt policies that provide foreign products (read producers) with due process, political participation, and information rights related to trade policymaking. Because these nations also provide these rights to their citizens, a growing number of people are learning how to influence trade-related policies. As trade today encompasses many areas of governance, these same citizens may gradually transfer the skills learned from influencing trade policies to other public issues. Thus, the WTO not only empowers foreign market actors, but also citizens in repressive states. We use both qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine whether membership in the WTO over time leads to improvements in these democratic rights. Our qualitative analysis shows that these issues are discussed during accessions and trade policy reviews. Quantitative analysis examines how members of the GATT ⁄WTO perform on these democratic rights over time. We use a cross-national time series design of all countries, accounting for selection issues of why countries become members of the GATT ⁄WTO regime. We find that longer GATT ⁄WTO membership leads to stronger performance on our metrics for political participation, free and fair elections, and access to information. The world’s most misunderstood international institution, the World Trade Organization (WTO), sits in a grand palace on the shores of Lake Geneva. This organization, once a club called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was designed to stimulate trade. The GATT ⁄WTO regulates protectionism, serves as a forum for trade negotiations, and settles trade disputes. It is also an international agreement that establishes the rule of law in international trade for citizens of 153 nations. Trade grew dramatically under the aegis of the GATT ⁄WTO, and thus the organization has played an important role in global economic growth. Yet many 1