Though he was slated to speak on “Enron, WorldCom and Corporate Fraud Reform,” Rep. Michael A. Capuano (D-Mass.) instead engaged in a lively debate on free trade and political ideology with about 20 students at the Institute of Politics on Monday.

A former mayor of Somerville and the current U.S. House representative for Somerville, Cambridge and part of Boston, Capuano began by briefly introducing himself and then immediately opened the door for questions.

Capuano was asked one question about the Corporate Fraud Reform Bill passed recently by the Senate. Capuano said the bill that passed was almost identical to a Democrat-proposed bill voted down in the House.

“People that are saying it’s a good bill are people that were voting against it [in the House]” he said. “[The Republican Party] caved for political purposes. For the good of the country, they caved.”

But discussion of corporate reform only lasted briefly before a question on trade with Central America sparked a lengthy debate on the merits of free trade.

Capuano said he has voted against all proposed free trade bills.

“I believe in checks and balances,” he said, criticizing the recently passed legislation that gives President Bush the ability to negotiate trade agreements. “If we didn’t want a messy government, we’d have a monarchy. We’ve created a de facto king.”

He added that his opposition to free trade went beyond partisan politics.

“I voted against it when Bill Clinton was president,” he said. “I’d vote against it with any president—unless, of course, I were president.”

Capuano challenged his questioners to name a country where working and living conditions have drastically improved with free trade.

He instead claimed that free trade benefits the rich factory owners of third-world countries, not the working population, especially in countries that don’t allow unions to exist.

Capuano also argued that American workers cannot compete with countries that lack environmental laws, labor laws and other financial constraints that American companies have in place. He said he believes in free trade, as long as it is “fair and level playing field trade.”

Capuano said his loyalty was first to the residents of his 8th Congressional district, then to the state of Massachusetts, then to America and finally to the world.

“I have no interest in building up other countries at America’s expense,” Capuano said. “How does it help my constituents to build up the Dominican Republic at our expense?”

He warned of the dangers of free trade that would further stratify the American economy and eliminate the middle class.

“This area used to be the textile capital of the world,” Capuano said.

“Some people need a manufacturing job,” he said. “They can’t all go to Harvard University.”

He warned that without a diverse economy, Americans would be divided into two classes—“the people that sweep the floors at the biotech company and the scientists at the biotech company.”

Throughout the debate on free trade, Capuano also had time to wax on such issues as the differences between the two main political parties and his own life as a politician.

“The Republican Party believes everyone should stand on their own two feet, and if not, too bad,” Capuano said.

Democrats, on the other hand, believe that we need to “come together as a society and help all people,” he said.

Capuano said there are occasionally conflicts between his ideals and his loyalty to his constituents.

And while he almost always places the interests of his constituents first, he said sometimes his ideals take precedence.

“Politicians who only listen to their constituents aren’t leaders; they’re followers,” he said. “On occasion, I think politicians should lead.”

—Staff writer David A. Weinfeld can be reached at weinfeld@fas.harvard.edu.