New faculty books explore WTO, congressional politics

book pose photo

wto medium dewhirst book medium

(Top) Dr. Charles McAdams (left), dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences, poses with Drs. Robert Dewhirst (center)
and Richard Fulton of the Department of History, Humanities,
Philosophy and Political Science. Dewhirst is the co-editor
of "The Roads to Congress 2006," and Fulton is co-author
of a new textbook about the World Trade Organization,
"The WTO Primer: Tracing Trade's Visible Hand through
Case Studies."

Two Northwest faculty members in the Department of History, Humanities, Philosophy and Political Science have recently published book-length academic works.

Dr. Robert Dewhirst is the co-editor of “The Roads to Congress 2006” (Nova), and Dr. Richard Fulton is the co-author of “The WTO Primer: Tracing Trade’s Visible Hand through Case Studies.” (Palgrave Macmillan).

Dewhirst, a full professor, did his doctoral work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and joined the Northwest Faculty in 1983. Published every two years and co-edited by Dr. Sunil Ahuja of Youngstown State University, “The Roads to Congress 2006” is the fifth in a series of books produced by the two scholars that summarize selected congressional races.

Essays by 17 academics and political observers, including both editors and Dr. Daniel Smith, assistant professor of political science at Northwest, illuminate a cross-section of contests and offer a detailed understanding of the contemporary campaign and election process.

Designed to provide readers with an inside look at politicians seeking victory at the polls, “The Roads to Congress” examines the roles played by political parties, issues and the candidates themselves well as the impact of campaign strategies, consultants, money and the media.

Fulton, also a full professor, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut and joined the Northwest faculty in 1973. He co-authored “The WTO Primer” with Dr. Kevin Buterbaugh, an associate professor of political science at Southern Connecticut State University.

Intended for use as a textbook, Fulton explained that “The WTO Primer” was written to “fill a hole in the literature” regarding the World Trade Organization’s history and development.

“Kevin and I simply thought it might be a good thing to plug that hole,” Fulton said.

The book’s subtitle is a reference to the 18^th-century economist Adam Smith, who described the marketplace as being guided by an "invisible hand."

Fulton and Buterbaugh, however, posit in Part I of their book that the modern international marketplace is guided by a set of rules embodied in the “visible hand” of the WTO, which they describe from its post-World War II beginnings in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT). Part II comprises a series of case studies that illuminate the diplomatic and domestic political issues confronted by the WTO since its founding.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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