The article is contributing a “Societal Approach” in the field of International Political Economy. The author focuses on the disruption of international cooperation and trade, apparently induced by domestic discontent, to show the crucial role that domestic forces play in influencing governmental preferences. The societal approach conceptualizes three conditions: interests, ideas and institutions. First, the “interests” are material considerations of domestic sectors or groups that can react rapidly to changing circumstances; that is, according to the benefits and costs induced by national, regional, or global economic developments and politics. Second, the “ideas” are fundamental, path-dependent, and value-based individual and collective expectations about appropriate governmental positions. Third, the institutions are the formal regulations which structure domestic political and socio-economic coordination. He concluded that in democracies, governments influence the electorate and have a certain degree of autonomy, and elites can capture the political process. The societal ideas and interests articulate themselves with more autonomy in democracy than in authoritarian regimes and voter’s discontent can remove ruling parties from office through elections with more ease.
