Taking a Fresh Look at North American Integration
Case Synopsis
In this concise introductory essay, the authors present North American Integration as a complex set of processes which add up to more than just the exchange of goods and services captured by trade theory. Instead, they argue, analysis of regional integration among the three NAFTA nations encompasses a diverse set of issue areas, such as immigration, the environment, financial markets, and energy. This diverse and complex agenda responds to "drivers," such as the globalization of production, and "inhibitors," such as the post-9/11 security paradigm advanced by the Bush administration. It also represents its own distinct path towards regional integration, despite its many differences from the more consensual and institutionalized path taken by Europe.
To illustrate this new model, the authors suggest a conceptualization of regional integration in North America as an "actor-driven process" whereby governments (the source of policymaking) face pressures simultaneously from international forces as well as two sets of organized actors: pro-integration business, and anti-integration civil society.
The case profiles these two actors, and discusses the conditions under which integration would be advanced or inhibited depending upon how governments manage these competing claims.
Noticeably absent in this model are trilateral institutions, but the authors note that it is this missing factor which helps explain the relative influence of business and civil society, and the difficult position of governments balancing these interests without a set of regional norms or a legitimating context for its decisions.
The case concludes with suggestions for the future study of North American Integration by scholars, and advice for practitioners in government, business, and civil society.
Educational Objectives
The case offers an excellent point of entry into the specific case of North American Integration in comparative perspective. It is also effective in arguing that regional integration goes beyond trade, even in the absence of formalized supranational institutions. With this case, the instructor can open a broad conversation about why North American integration took the form it did, compared to Europe, and what the consequences (political, social, economic, institutional) have been.
Teaching Plan
Issues in the Case
1. Is North America more than NAFTA?
Here, the instructor can discuss the two classic approaches to REI: trade theory and neofunctionalist theory. Trade theory measures integration according to levels of exchange - buying and selling of goods from one country to another.
The case raises the possibility that much more should be included in the definition of integration, such as its implications for other cross-border flows such as immigration.
The case also suggests that trade is, as the authors put it, "only the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to measuring economic integration. In North America, continentalized production chains means that trade is heavily intra-firm, and is not about exchanging finished goods. Neofunctionalist theory would admit to the diverse and structural forms of integration, but would argue that the deeper and more diverse the exchanges, the more likely institutions would arise to expand the commitment between the integrating partners. The authors argue here that North America has integrated without institutional deepening, and should be studied as a separate path towards integration.
2. Drivers and Inhibitors of REI:
The case does a good job of identifying various drivers and inhibitors of REI. It starts at the international level, with factors such as globalization and the post 9/11 security environment, and then moves to the domestic level to discuss the relationship between business, civil society and government. It is a schematic model, but by paring down to the essentials, it offers a starting point for a broader discussion that can go into greater depth about: (1) which kinds of business, and which groups in civil society are active in the debate, and (2) which mechanisms are available to these groups to influence the policymaking process in general, and specifically in each country?
3. Governments in the Cross-Hairs:
The case places governments at the center of the model. In the absence of trilateral regional governance institutions, the model is simplified in North America, with pro- and anti-integration interest groups, targeting governments and governments facing domestic and international pressures.
This schematic model opens the conversation about how transnationalized these competing groups have become, and how they might use methods of transnational influence (diplomatic, protest, seeking out allies in other domestic contexts, internet and media-based campaigns).
It also raises the question regarding different policymaking contexts - for example, does the parliamentary system in Canada insulate the government more from interest group lobbying? Finally, it opens the door to a discussion of federalism and other levels of government, which might also find themselves in the "cross-hairs" on integration-related issues.
Questions for Discussion
1. Do you think that the North American model can continue developing without some form of trilateral regional institutions? In what ways could trilateral institutions help government adjudicate between the pro- and anti-integration forces in areas such as immigration, environment and energy?
2. What explains the "disconnect" between business and civil society noted by the authors on their diagram (p. 3)? What might be done to overcome it?
3. In both North America and in Europe, opponents to REI decry a "democratic deficit" whereby the needs of ordinary people are not being met and the voices of dissent are not heard. Looking at the North American model presented here, what causes the "deficit" for our region, and how might it be addressed by governments?
4. What might be the future "drivers" and "inhibitors" of REI in North America? Consider that these may be international factors, or domestic factors.
Relevant Courses
This piece is ideally suited for introductory courses in a variety of fields, such as political science (international political economy, international relations, globalization, global issues, etc.) and international business, especially dealing with business-government relations. For upper level classes, this piece can be paired with more advanced theoretical works and can open the way for students to formulate their own revisions and elaborations of the simple model presented in the case.
Useful Links from PNA
- Beyond Trade: The case for a Broadened International Governance Agenda
- Civil Society and North American Integration
- Designing an Index of relative Economic Integration for North America - Theory and some Practical Considerations
- Integration: Process, Condition, or Doctrine?
- Regional Integration and Federalism
- Shaping the Future of the North American Economic Space: A Framework for Action
- The Next Plateau in North America: What's the Big Idea?
- The Role of Subnational Governance in the Governance of North America
- Trinational Elites Map North American Future in NAFTA Plus
Suggested Bibliography
Ayres, Jeffrey and Laura Macdonald (2007). "Deep Integration and Shallow Governance: The Limits to Civil Society Engagement in North America." Policy and Society 25(6): 23-42.
Blank, Stephen and Jerry Haar (1998). Making NAFTA Work: U.S. Firms and the New North American Business Environment. Miami, FL: North-South Centre Press, University of Miami.
Council on Foreign Relations, Canadian Council of Chief Executives and El Consejo Mexicano de Relaciones Internacionales (2005). Building a North American Community: Report of an Independent Task Force. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.
Grinspun, Ricardo and Yasmine Samsi, eds. (2007). Whose Canada? Continental Integration, Fortress North America, and the Corporate Agenda. Montreal and Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Pastor, Robert (2001). Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New. Washinton, DC: Institute for International Economics.
Studer, Isabel and Carlo Wise, eds. (2007). Requiem or Revival? The Promise of North American Integration. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Wise, Timothy A., Hilda Salazar, and Laura Carlsen, eds. (2003). Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
Suggested Web Resources
Canadian Council of Chief Executives: http://www.ceocouncil.ca/ (Accessed July 2008).
Common Frontiers Canada: http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/ (Accessed July 2008).
Council of the Americas, Working Groups, North American Competitiveness Council: http://coa.counciloftheamericas.org/group.php?id=10 (Accessed July 2008).
Instituto Mexicano de la Competitividad, IMCO: http://www.imco.org.mx/ (Accessed July 2008).
Public Citizen, Global Trade Watch, NAFTA: http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/ (Accessed July 2008).
Red Mexicana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RMLAC): http://www.rmalc.org.mx/index.shtml (Accessed July 2008).
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: North American Competitiveness Council: http://www.uschamber.com/issues/index/international/nacc.htm (Accessed July 2008).
Case Study from: Study Group on "Mapping the New North American Reality"
In cooperation with the Government of Quebec, the Government of Canada, the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), and HEC-Montreal, Montreal November 2003.
Published in: Mapping the New North American Reality, IRPP Working Paper Series 2004-09c.
Note: PNA is committed to encouraging intelligent discourse among our members. Comments are moderated by PNA, in accordance with the PNA Comment Policy. PNA does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted below.
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