The Constitutionalization of the World Trade Organization: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Community in the International Trading System

by Deborah Z. Cass

Overview

What is the World Trade Organization? Has it become a type of a "constitution"? Will it curb international trade discrimination and open up markets for developing countries, or will it prevent States from choosing the economic systems they want? This book untangles debates about constitutionalization and argues that the WTO is not, and should not, be described as a constitution by the standards of any conventional definition, or by the lights of any constitution to which we ought to aspire. Under current models, a constitutionalized WTO may curtail the ability of states to decide matters of national economic interest. The risk is an emphasis upon economic goals and free trade theory over other social values. Instead, Cass argues that what is needed, is a constitutionalized WTO which considers the economic development needs of States. Trading democracy, and not trading constitutionalization, is the biggest challenge facing the WTO.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199285846
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/29/2005
Series:	International Economic Law Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dr. Deborah Z. Cass (S.J.D. Harv. and LL.B Melb) is Reader in Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science where she teaches International Economic Law.

Table of Contents

PrefaceAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsTable of CasesTable of International InstrumentsPART I: THE ORIGINS OF THE WTO CONSTITUTIONALIZATION DEBATE1. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND CONSTITUTIONALIZATION2. CONSTITUTIONALIZATION: THE RECEIVED ACCOUNT3. THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW BACKGROUNDPART II: THREE VISIONS OF WTO CONSTITUTIONALIZATION4. INSTITUTIONAL MANAGERIALISM5. RIGHTS-BASED CONSTITUTIONALIZATION6. JUDICIAL NORM-GENERATIONPART III: TRADING DEMOCRACY7. ANTI-CONSTITUTIONALIZATION CRITIQUE8. CONCLUSIONBibiographyIndex