ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the situational level of the pluralists and the systemic level of the structural Marxist both miss the very real battle between class segments that went on over trade policy between 1917 and 1962. It presents a brief overview of the general viewpoints espoused by Bauer—Pool-Dexter and Stone. As a study of communication processes as they relate to Congress, the analysis by Bauer—Pool—Dexter casts a very wide net. The pluralism was almost exclusively within the business community and government. Where the pluralists see only individuals, specific industries, trade associations, and ad hoc publicity committees, the structural Marxist sees only constraints set by the logic of the system. If the Great Depression started the move toward freer trade, it was the outcome of Second World War that made free trade the principle and protectionism the exception.
