Mot mer makt? - En studie om utvecklingsländers maktsituation i Världshandelsorganisationen WTO
Developing countriesWTORegime theoryPowerStructural changeSocial sciencesSamhällsvetenskaperPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapSocial SciencesLaw and Political Science
This thesis examines the power of developing countries within the World Trade Organization (WTO). The research question is if there is a change in the power relations between developing countries and developed countries from the establishment of the WTO in 1995 and until mid 2006, and if so, why this change is taking place? The thesis has its theoretical starting-point within regime theory and views it from a critical theoretical perspective. A multidimensional why of dealing with the concept of power is being used to answer if there is a change in the power relations? The conclusion is that there is a small change in the power relations and that the developing countries are gaining more, but limited power. A new theoretical framework is developed with inspiration from an existing theory about structural change to answer why this change in power relations is taking place. It is argued that the mechanisms of coalition building between developing countries are a part of the explanation. A qualitative text analysis is used to examine the empirical material as well as a quantitative method for examining the statistical material used in the research process.