Trade, Democracy, and the FTAA: Public Access to the Process of Constructing a Free Trade Area of the Americas

The Article concentrates on access for non-profit or "public interest" elements of civil society rather than for-profit business interests, because public interest organizations have been more marginalized from the FTAA, and their interests are more diffuse and conflicting - rendering their integration more problematic. It also concentrates on the multilateral process in the context of Ministerial meetings rather than trade policymaking at a national level because of the symbolic value attached to meetings of ministers, and the unique opportunities for public dialogue offered by these high-level meetings.