Privileging Industry The Comparative Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy

"Politicians protect their own. So the pattern of trade and industry protection depends on which groups of voters the ruling politicians most need to protect. In this sparkling new contribution, Fiona McGillivray shows that the answers differ in different political systems. She can explain why, in Britain, cutlery and textiles have been protected but coal and steel have not been. This is a smart application of median voter theory, paying (as others have failed to) attention to the fact that the relevant median voter is different in strong-party systems and in weak-party systems; and in plurality electoral systems and proportional representation electoral systems. As a Scot working in the U.S.A., she is unusually sensitive to the nuances of comparative politics. This is a must-read for the political economy of protection."--Iain McLean, Oxford University "An important contribution to our understanding of how political institutions and political geography shape political outcomes. Fiona McGillivray argues that differences in political institutions or in industrial structures do not have the straightforward effects on political outcomes that are normally attributed to them. Instead, she examines how the effects of interests vary depending on how they are mediated by political interests."--Robert Pahre, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, author ofLeading Questions: How Hegemony Affects the International Political EconomyMcGillivray, Fiona is the author of 'Privileging Industry The Comparative Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy' with ISBN 9780691027708 and ISBN 0691027706.