Drawing on a wide range of documents and interviews with officials in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well the author's experience as an aide to Senator Bill Bradley during negotiations, Interpreting NAFTA is a history of the agreement's development, from opening talks to final passage.

Drawing on a wide range of documents and interviews with officials in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well the author's experience as an aide to Senator Bill Bradley during negotiations, Interpreting NAFTA is a history of the agreement's development, from opening talks to final passage. Frederick W. Mayer combines recent work in international relations, comparative politics, interest groups, and public opinion to develop a broad theoretical framework that crosses between international relations and domestic politics. Mayer demonstrates that to understand NAFTA, one must view it as simultaneously a matter of political interests, institutions, and ideas.