Did Globalization Undermine Governance and Spur a Backlash?

A substantial literature on the decline in support for liberal trade policies and globalization has emerged. Most of these accounts, however, do not adequately address the puzzling issue of why it took so long for governments to respond to rising discontent stemming from trade globalization's economic effects. The literature we review suggests that government actions during this era were shaped by neoliberal principles that established powerful ideological and institutional constraints. To promote trade and growth, political leaders and policymakers were committed to reducing government's footprint in the economy. That commitment inhibited both their interest in and ability to respond to globalization's impact, fostering an environment ripe for antiglobalist political entrepreneurs. We argue that the neoliberal cast of the contemporary era of trade globalization, together with the associated rules-based multilateral regime that restricted member states’ flexibility, may have sown the seeds of the backlash against it.