ABSTRACT

Few would disagree that economic interests are central to explaining political outcomes. Yet several authors have started to identify the limitations of theories that rely solely on economic interests to explain political behaviour, and the pendulum seems to be swinging towards a more ‘political’ bent to political economy. Some authors emphasize the political process of policy making, while others integrate ideas and ideologies into models of decision making.1 In this chapter I build on the new ‘ideas and ideology’ literature. I develop hypotheses for how variations in the means by which ideology and interests are channelled through political organizations (parties, groups) can affect trade policy outcomes. The logic of the hypotheses derives from party theory, and is complemented by insights from the electoral and legislative voting literatures. These hypotheses are applied to Britain and Germany in the nineteenth century.