The Study Of Establishment Of American Free Trade Hegemony System

The international trade system after the WWII is one system in which the USA stays in the leading position, and the attitude of USA has decided its open or not. The USA is the founder and driver of this system, so it is also the most important factor to arouse the reforms of international trade system. Why USA created such kind of trade system and why the hegemon country (Great Britain in 19 century and USA in 20 century) inclines to support liberal international economy order? Rationalism theories and criticism theories have made wide investigations and discussions on this subject, but the conclusion is not satisfactory. So this thesis is trying to explain these theories, then make further analysis and research of the phenomenon.Rationalism theories are limited by their "problem solving" standpoint, so they can't explain the origin of the free trade hegemony, even though both of the "Hegemony Stabilization Theory" of Robert Gilpin and the "Neoliberal Institutionalism Theory" of Robert O. Keohane discover the relationship between free trade and hegemony. "Hegemony Stabilization Theory" emphasizes that hegemony state wants to establish free and open international economic order because of national interests and power; "Neoliberal Institutionalism Theory" considers that it is the international regime that maintains the free international economic order; however, both of them are lack of a domestic research perspective, and they can not reveal the making and changing process of the international trade policies. Based on this judgement, the author of this thesis introduces the theoretical thoughts of Robert.W.Cox, in order to consider the relationship between the United States hegemony and the free trade mechanism in the viewpoint of domestic production and trade policy-making process.According to Cox, the reasons that the United States has actively sought to establish international free trade mechanism in post-war age are not only the "national interests", but also the profound historical and social factors. In other words, if we want to explain the relationship between American hegemony and free trade mechanism, we must research from historical roots, which is so-called "1934 system". The system is the beginning of the United State's free trade, and the free and open international economic order which was led by the USA is the result of popularization of the 1934 system at the international level and the integration of American material, ideology and regime at domestic level.Through this combination of international and domestic methods, we can understand the American political system, and at the same time understand the existing international political and economic system.Specifically speaking, this paper consists of the following parts:First of all, it is the introduction. This part refers to the background and significance of the study, the present situation and the framework of the thesis.Chapter One is the Theory Route of Free Trade Hegemony Studies. This part refers to the rationalism research and the transnational historical materialism research.Chapter Two is the 1934 System and Social Economy Foundation of Free Trade Hegemony. This part is to analyze the content and the characteristics of the system, then drive to the conclusion that the large-scale mode of production and the labour and capital collective negotiation system is the foundation of 1934 system.Chapter Three is the Institutional Foundation of 1934 System.The most important achievement of the system is that the trade policy-making power is transferred from the congress to the president, and State Council becomes the leading role in trade field.Chapter four is the Party Politics and Ideological Connotation of 1934 System. This part includes the failure of the Hoover administration and Roosevelt's effort to seek for political balance.Chapter five is the Significance of 1934 System and its International Extension. It mainly refers to the extension of free trade philosophy in the whole world, and the establishment of a series of international organizations which implement the free trade mission.