U.s. Trade Policy Process Of The Three Levels Of Analysis

The study of American foreign trade policy has long been an important issue in the domain of political and economic science abroad. Through the use of levels of analysis, we can see that there have been three levels in the studying of American foreign trade policy, such as society-centered, system-centered and state-centered. These different levels focus on different variables and uncover the different scenery of the process of American foreign trade policy. The society-centered theory emphasizes the domestic society as the basis of trade policy. It insists that the interest groups and congress determine the making of foreign trade policy. The system-centered theory explores the basis of trade policy from the circumstances of international system. It suggests that factors such as the structure of international power, international regimes, economic interdependence, constrain the process of policy. Different from the two kinds of theories above, the state-centered theory emphasizes the independent role the state has played in the process of policy making. Recently, the research of this topic has become more deepened and integrated. On the one hand, as scientific methods being used, each level of research has been refined. On the other hand, the scholars begin to stress the merits of models of each other. At present, the viewpoints and the methods that these three levels of theories proposed, still has important significance in the study of this topic, though there has not appeared the unified approach yet Specially, these theories not only enrich the research angle of view but also lead us have a more systematic understanding about variables that determine the making of American foreign trade policy. And the significance of these theories is not only restricted in the American trade policy process research, it also provides an important framework of analysis in the study of foreign policy in other nations.