Politics and Trade Cooperation in the Nineteenth Century

“While political scientists and other scholars have studied the post-World War II trade regime in detail, we still know little about the basis of trade cooperation in the past. In this important volume, Robert Pahre sheds new and fascinating light on the nineteenth century trading system. His work will be of great interest to scholars working in many fields and disciplines.” - Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College

“This book presents a unique look at international cooperation in trade over the long run, starting from the early 19th century. It has at least three great strengths. It offers a wonderful new dataset of international cooperation in trade. It sets forth a series of intriguing and sophisticated propositions about the conditions under which cooperation will and will not occur. And finally it provides strong evidence that the current wave of trade cooperation and globalization it has fostered can be sustained, despite domestic backlashes.” - Helen V. Milner, Princeton University

“This is a monumental work, offering a staggeringly deep and complete account of the domestic and international politics of trade in the 19th century. The depth and breadth of the book is breathtaking. From a simple model based firmly in the view that trade policy must be derived from domestic political and international economic conditions, the author develops a compelling theory, building from the country level, through the bilateral/multilateral negotiations to the systemic level. It brings the methods and tools of modern political economy to investigate trade policies and patterns from the last great period of globalization and comprehensively establishes where our modern views survive in the face of this evidence, and where these views need to be conditioned or altered. - B. Peter Rosendorff, New York University

"Robert Pahre has written an excellent book on trade politics of the nineteenth century. His thoughtful and systematic treatment challenges a multitude of assumptions and conclusions about trade policy, offering a fresh way of thinking about trade cooperation. Unlike many contemporary works in international political economy, the book does not read like an ax-grinding exercise (e.g., this is the best and only worthwhile approach to the subject), but rather it reads as if Pahre was motivated to "get it right"-- to be very accurate and to account for as many anomalies as possible. The result is a masterful work that should find its place on every trade scholar's bookshelf."
Perspectives on Politics, Susan K. Sell, George Washington University