G. Pope Atkins

Institutional Arrangements for Hemispheric Free Trade

Three outcomes of the problem of institutionalizing hemispheric free trade seem possible: (1) a U.S.-centered series of multilateral and bilateral free trade areas in which only the United States enjoys truly hemispheric free trade; (2) a set of integrated subregional free trade agreements, emanating from the North American Free Trade Area if it is completed; or (3) a hemispherewide system coordinated by inter-American agencies—its realization, if it is to be, is a long way away.

The Dominican Republic and the United States: From Imperialism to Transnationalism@@@The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic

Over the past several decades, the Dominican Republic has experienced striking political stagnation in spite of dramatic socioeconomic transformations. In this work, Jonathan Hartlyn offers a new explanation for the countrys political evolution, based on a broad comparative perspective. Hartlyn rejects cultural explanations unduly focused on legacies from the Spanish colonial era and structural explanations excessively centered on the lack of national autonomy. Instead, he highlights the independent impact of political and institutional factors and historical legacies, while also considering changes in Dominican society and the influence of the United States and other international forces. In particular, Hartlyn examines how the Dominican Republics tragic nineteenth-century history established a legacy of neopatrimonialism, a form of rule that found extreme expression in the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo and has continued to shape politics down to the present. By examining economic policymaking and often conflictual elections, Hartlyn also analyzes the missed opportunity for democracy during the rule of the Dominican Revolutionary Party and the democratic tensions of the administrations of Joaquin Balaguer. |A political history of the Dominican Republic, focused especially on the nature of its struggles for democracy during the past 35 years.