ABSTRACT
Protectionism persuades interest groups that their interests depend on the government, and that it is necessary to organize for the purpose of establishing agreements with other groups having different and sometimes even partly contrary interests, to succeed in obtaining laws favorable to their own demands. There are two types of protectionism: one suitable for strong peoples who are increasing in population and wealth; the other suitable for disheartened and lazy peoples with a stable population. Socialist protectionism is translated in a brutal way into roles that limit the number of foreign manual laborers in public works undertakings. Protectionism invokes the principle of national solidarity and did not wait for Leon Bourgeois to throw itself into great disquisitions on this subject that is so apt to prompt eloquent emotional appeals. The example of England has often been cited to prove that free trade is the most suitable regime for a strongly progressive economy.
