Combining the disciplines of international political economy, public sector economics and comparative politics, this stimulating book debates whether federalism obstructs institutional adjustment under conditions of a globalized economy, or whether this depends upon the extent to which a given political system is centralized. Axel Hülsemeyer analyzes the ratification of the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty, and contrasts these with the implementation of the bilateral free trade agreement between the United States and Canada as well as the NAFTA. Preferential trade agreements themselves are conceptualized as the state response to economic globalization.