DUE DATE: 11:15am on Friday,
December 3rd
**Submit
both the electronic file and the paper copy to me by the deadline.**
To submit the electronic copy, use the SEND FILE button in
Blackboard’s
digital dropbox
and name the file after your last name.
This
assignment requires you to think through a variety of issues related to the FTAA
negotiations. While the simulation
exercise is related to the policy brief, the policy brief is NOT a group assignment.
All of the work is to be your own. The first two
sections of this brief will be material inserted from the two take-home
analysis exercises. You are
encouraged to revise the sections from the take-home analyses
if you believe that revision will noticeably improve the final product.
There is a firm 2-page limit on the executive summary but all there is no
firm page limit on the five sections of the main body of the brief.
The page numbers provided in parentheses for each section are rough
estimates of how long each section will be for most students.
Keep
the following in mind as you construct your brief:
v
Bring
in opposing views (& their supporting evidence) and deal with them directly
in the brief as a means of making your own argument stronger & more
balanced.
v
Remember
to handle your source materials carefully. Provide citations for primary &
secondary materials. Cite other authors (and the relevant page #) when
presenting their views. This not only gives them credit, it also allows you to
take proper credit for your insights.
v
You
must use a minimum of 10 sources in addition to readings assigned for POSC 397
and in addition to the election data and trade data provided for take-home
analyses #1 and #2. Whether you use footnotes or text-reference citations, you must
provide a complete bibliography of works cited at the end of the brief.
YOUR
AUDIENCE: Address your brief to the chief executive of the country’s
government that you represent in the simulation.
You are an analyst for a presidential adviser.
You can assume a literate audience, but you cannot assume any detailed
knowledge. Your supervisor is busy.
You must provide concisely a comprehensive, detailed analysis that will
inform your boss while it also argues for a particular point of view on several
questions.
All
briefs must follow a similar format:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (2pp. double-spaced, a maximum of
4500 characters):
Summarize the content of the entire brief in two pages.
The chief executive is so busy that he or she may not have time to read
the brief itself. The summary must
be accurate, but should also get the reader’s attention.
I. Trade Background (3pp.) {note:
revised
from your prior take-home analysis}
·
I.A.
Existing Free Trade Agreements
·
I.B.
The FTAA Agenda
·
I.C.
A Comparison of Existing Duty-Free Zone to Potential Additions via FTAA:
o
Based
on existing trade patterns, are the potential new FTAA partners more
important or less important than your existing duty-free partners in the
hemisphere? In building a concise
argument on this point, consider:
§
the
percentage of your exports in the two zones
§
the
total GDP of the two zones
§
the
total population in the two zones
§
the
average GDP/capita in the two zones
§
any
other information you find relevant to this issue
II. Domestic Political Background (3pp.) {note:
revised
from your prior take-home analysis}
·
II.A.
Recent Electoral History
·
II.B.
Major Political Parties and the Politics of Trade
·
II.C.
An Analysis of the Partisan Backdrop to the FTAA Talks
o
Given
the political backdrop, do you consider the existing political climate generally
favorable or unfavorable to the pursuit of a new free trade agreement? In
building a concise argument on this point, consider:
§
the
chief executive’s electoral mandate
§
the
chief executive’s relationship with the legislature
§
the
position of the chief executive’s party regarding free trade
§
the
balance of partisan forces in the legislature regarding free trade
§
any
other information you find relevant to this issue
III. Negotiating Background (4-6pp.)
·
III.A.
An Analysis of the Likely U.S.
Negotiating Posture [the U.S. team must analyze Canada]
o
How badly does the United States want a duty-free
zone in the hemisphere? Express this desire for an FTAA on a scale of 1 to 10
(in which 1 means “only interested if many issues besides market access are
included in the FTAA” and 10 means “interested in gaining the market access
involved at virtually all costs”). Explain the reasoning and the information
on which you base this judgment.
o
What concessions besides market access could your
country provide in order to increase the United States’ desire to participate?
How and why would these concessions be potentially persuasive?
·
III.B.
An
Analysis of the Likely Brazilian
Negotiating Posture [the Brazilian
team must analyze Argentina]
o
How badly does Brazil want a duty-free zone in the
hemisphere? Express this desire for an FTAA on a scale of 1 to 10 (in which 1
means “only interested if many issues besides market access are included in
the FTAA” and 10 means “interested in gaining the market access involved at
virtually all costs”). Explain the reasoning and the information on which you
base this judgment.
o
What concessions besides market access could your
country provide in order to increase Brazil’s desire to participate? How and why
would these concessions be potentially persuasive?
·
III.C.
An Analysis the Likely Negotiating
Posture of any other country you choose to discuss
o
How badly does this country want a duty-free zone in
the hemisphere? Express this desire for an FTAA on a scale of 1 to 10 (in which
1 means “only interested if many issues besides market access are included in
the FTAA” and 10 means “interested in gaining the market access involved at
virtually all costs”). Explain the reasoning and the information on which you
base this judgment.
o
What concessions besides market access could your
country provide in order to increase this country’s desire to participate? How
and why would these concessions be potentially persuasive?
IV. Our Major Negotiating Options (5-9pp.)
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of three major negotiating options relative
to one another. The discussion of
each option should be balanced, but should also build an argument that one
option is most preferable. You should pay attention to not just the policy
“nuts and bolts” but also to the negotiating feasibility of each option. If
a particular option seems difficult to achieve in the negotiations, this concern
must be dealt with in the brief.
·
OPTION
1: Join the FTAA only if the market access gained by your country is greater
than the market access conceded by your country.
o
At
the beginning of your analysis of this option, describe numerically one
potential path in which your country gains more access than it concedes. If it
cannot occur, detail why that is the case in rejecting this option as
mathematically infeasible.
·
OPTION
2: Join the FTAA regardless of the market access ratio but provided that
certain countries with which you do not have duty-free access decide to join the
FTAA.
o
At
the beginning of your analysis of this option, list the country or countries
that you consider essential new FTAA partner(s) and provide a specific set of
justifications for why and how this country (or countries) is essential to your
country’s participation in a future FTAA.
·
OPTION
3: Join the FTAA provided that certain issues other than tariff levels are part
of the agreement.
o
At
the beginning of your analysis of this option, list the issue(s) that you
consider essential elements of a FTAA and provide a specific set of
justifications for why and how this issue(s) is (are) essential to your
country’s participation in a future FTAA.
V.
Recommendations (1-2pp.)
Provide a policy recommendation that summarizes your reasoning. Follow that up
with an analysis of how that option should be pursued politically within
your country.
·
As
a policy analyst, make it clear why the recommended negotiating strategy is
better than the alternatives.
·
Close
your brief with a domestic political analysis. What can the president do
politically to convince others in the country to accept the country’s
participation in a FTAA framed by the trade strategy you have just recommended?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Provide a bibliography of all works
cited during the brief. Follow the citation format discussed at the following
URL: http://www.jmu.edu/polisci/advisory/s02vs1/sampbib.html
