1\. Introduction 5 1.1 Why Mexico and Turkey and Their Incorporation into
Regional Blocs? 7 1.2 Regionalization, Globalization, Institutional Change and
Decoupling 9 2\. The EU Accession Process and Differential Impact in Turkey:
Failed Dialogue, Empowered Organizations 10 2.1 Failed Europeanization in
Social Dialogue: the Economic and Social Council in Turkey 12 2.2 Non-EU
External Actors and Bilateral Coordination Platforms at Work 13 2.3 The EU and
Partial Empowerment of Corporatist Organizations in Turkey 14 2.4 The EU and
the Burgeoning-Polarized-Cohesion of Turkish Business 16 3\. NAFTA Accession
and Changes in Social Dialogue in Mexico 18 3.1 NAFTA, Transnationalization
and Mexico’s Decaying Corporatism: A Case for Nafta-ization or North-
Americanization 18 3.2 Transnationalization, NAFTA, Changing Institutions and
Organizational Landscape in Mexico 20 4\. Conclusion 22 References 25This working paper explores the processes in which accession to different
regional blocs has affected the ways the state interacts with societal actors,
along with the interest representation and mediation models in both member and
accession countries. Focusing on Turkey and Mexico, two upper-middle-income
countries situated on the fringes of major powers and integrated into the
regional blocs led by those, the paper examines the differential impact of the
European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the
organization and mediation of business interests; the ways in which these
interests are incorporated into policy-making; and the processes of social
dialogue. Taking into consideration the fundamental differences between these
two regionalisms, it looks into both direct and indirect mechanisms with
respect to the influence of regional-level actors on domestic actors and
institutions. Maintaining that the impact of regional blocs cannot be easily
isolated from that of international, transnational actors and processes, the
paper scrutinizes the respective roles of international actors and
transnational networks which, at times, have become more influential than the
regional blocs in bringing about major institutional changes at the domestic
level. Thus, it sheds light on processes of comparative regionalization and
their varying influences on distinct polities, which is usually combined and
even furthered or, rather, obstructed by the influences of transnational,
international and global forces, along with domestic actors and institutions
