Centro de Investigaciones sobre América del

How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Scientific Information System Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Some commentators have argued that federalism can undermine the strength of government, especially in international affairs and capitalist development. This perspective argues that multilateral trade agreements, such as NAFTA, are more dif-ficult to achieve and weaker in effect when negotiated and implemented among federal countries. However, an analysis of the process that created NAFTA and its actual economic accomplishments, so far, strongly suggest that the opposite is true: that federal systems, such as Canada, Mexico, and the United States, benefit from that experience of “shared governance ” in relation to globalization, especial-ly as it reflects the complexity of sovereign integration, critical to the practical suc-cess of that process. Key words: federalism, globalization, shared sovereignty, constitutional law and government, capitalist development, multilateral negotiation