Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T15:16:38.033Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Love Thy Neighbo(u)r? Political Attitudes, Proximity and the Mutual Perceptions of the Canadian and American Publics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2014

Timothy B. Gravelle*
Affiliation:
University of Essex and PriceMetrix Inc.
*
PriceMetrix Inc., 200–40 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1T1. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

There has been renewed interest in recent years in both the foreign perceptions of the United States as well as the foreign policy attitudes of the American public. In this light, it is interesting to observe that there is a substantial body of research on Canadian public opinion toward the United States but relatively little on American public opinion toward Canada. Further, most literature neglects the effect of spatial proximity to the other country on perceptions. This article addresses both shortcomings in the literature. It investigates the mutual perceptions of the Canadian and American publics drawing on public opinion data from both Canada and the US. The explanation of attitudes toward the other country has three main foci: the roles of political party identification and political ideology; the role of spatial proximity to the Canada–US border; and the interactive relationship between political attitudes and border proximity.

Résumé

Au cours des dernières années, on a observé un intérêt renouvelé dans les perceptions étrangères des États-Unis ainsi que les attitudes du public américain dans le domaine de la politique étrangère. En considération de ce principe, il est intéressant d'observer la longue lignée de recherches sur l'opinion publique canadienne envers les États-Unis, mais relativement peu sur l'opinion publique américaine envers le Canada. En outre, la plupart des recherches négligent l'effet de la proximité spatiale à autre pays sur les perceptions. Cet article tente de corriger ces deux lacunes dans les recherches. Il examine les perceptions mutuelles des publics canadiens et américains en se fondant sur les données de l'opinion publique des deux pays. L'explication des attitudes envers l'autre pays a trois axes principaux : les rôles de l'identification de parti politique et l'idéologie politique; le rôle de la proximité à la frontière canado-américaine ; et la relation interactive entre les attitudes politiques et la proximité de la frontière.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, Michael. 2003. Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values. Toronto: Penguin.Google Scholar
Aldrich, John H., Gelpi, Chris, Feaver, Peter, Reifler, Jason and Sharp, Kristin Thompson. 2006. “Foreign Policy and the Electoral Connection.Annual Review of Political Science 9: 477502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Alper, Donald. 1980. “Congressional Attitudes toward Canada and Canada–United States Relations.American Review of Canadian Studies 10 (2): 2636.Google Scholar
Bennett, Scott. 2004. “American and Canadian Assessments of NAFTA: Opinion on Continental Policy and Its Drivers.American Behavioral Scientist 47 (10): 12851318.Google Scholar
Berezin, Mabel, and Díez Medrano, Juan. 2008. “Distance Matters: Place, Political Legitimacy and Popular Support for European Integration.Comparative European Politics 6 (1): 132.Google Scholar
Blalock, Hubert M. 1966. Toward a Theory of Minority Group Relations. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Boscoe, Francis P., Henry, Kevin A. and Zdeb, Michael S.. 2012. “A Nationwide Comparison of Driving Distance Versus Straight-Line Distance to Hospitals.Professional Geographer 64 (2): 188–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Branton, Regina, Dillingham, Gavin, Dunaway, Johanna and Miller, Beth. 2007. “Anglo Voting on Nativist Ballot Initiatives: The Partisan Impact of Spatial Proximity to the U.S.–Mexico Border.Social Science Quarterly 88 (3): 882–97.Google Scholar
Brebner, John Bartlet. 1945. North Atlantic Triangle: The Interplay of Canada, the United States and Great Britain. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Brooks, Stephen. 2008. “Imagining Each Other.” In Canada and the United States: Differences that Count, ed. Thomas, David M. and Torrey, Barbara Boyle. 3rd ed. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Brooks, Stephen. 2006. As Others See Us: The Causes and Consequences of Foreign Perceptions of America. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Chiozza, Giacomo. 2009. Anti-Americanism and the American World Order. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarkson, Stephen. 2008. Does North America Exist? Governing the Continent after NAFTA and 9/11. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochrane, Christopher and Perrella, Andrea. 2012. “Regions, Regionalism and Regional Differences in Canada.Canadian Journal of Political Science 45 (4): 829–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dasko, Donna. 1986. “Canadian Public Opinion: Sources of Support and Dissent.” In The Free Trade Papers, ed. Cameron, Duncan. Toronto: James Lorimer.Google Scholar
Deutsch, Karl W. 1954. Political Community at the International Level: Problems of Definition and Measurement. Garden City NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Deutsch, Karl W. 1966. Nationalism and its Alternatives. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Deutsch, Karl W., Burrell, Sidney A., Kann, Robert A., Lee, Maurice Jr., Lichterman, Martin, Lindren, Raymond E., Loewenheim, Francis L. and Van Wagenen, Richard W.. 1957. Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. New York: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Díez Medrano, Juan. 2003. Framing Europe: Attitudes to European Integration in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Doran, Charles E. and Sewell, James Patrick. 1988. “Anti-Americanism in Canada?Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 497: 105–19.Google Scholar
Dunaway, Johanna, Branton, Regina P. and Abrajano, Marisa A.. 2010. “Agenda Setting, Public Opinion, and the Issue of Immigration Reform.Social Science Quarterly 91 (2): 359–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagles, Munroe. 2002. “Ecological Factors and Voting.” In Citizen Politics: Research and Theory in Canadian Political Behaviour, ed. Everitt, Joanna and O'Neill, Brenda. Don Mills ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fox, John. 2008. Applied Regression Analysis and Generalized Linear Models. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Fox, John. 1987. “Effect Displays for Generalized Linear Models.Sociological Methodology 17: 347–61.Google Scholar
Grabb, Edward and Curtis, James. Regions Apart: The Four Societies of Canada and the United States. Don Mills ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Granatstein, Jack L. 1996. Yankee Go Home? Canadians and Anti-Americanism. Toronto: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Haglund, David G. 2006. “Québec's ‘America Problem’: Differential Threat Perception in the North American Security Community.'” American Review of Canadian Studies 36 (4): 552–67.Google Scholar
Holsti, Ole R. 2008. To See Ourselves as Others See Us: How Publics Abroad View the United States after 9/11. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald F., Nevitte, Neil and Basañez, Miguel. 1996. The North American Trajectory: Cultural, Economic and Political Ties among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Hawthorne NY: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Inwood, Gregory. 2005. Continentalizing Canada: The Politics and Legacy of the Macdonald Royal Commission. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J. and Keohane, Robert O., eds. 2007. Anti-Americanisms in World Politics. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Katzenstein, Peter J.. 2007. “Introduction: The Politics of Anti-Americanisms.” In Anti-Americanisms in World Politics, ed. Katzenstein, Peter J. and Keohane, Robert O.. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. and Nye, Joseph S.. 1974. “Introduction: The Complex Politics of Canadian − American Interdependence.International Organization 28 (4): 595607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohut, Andrew and Stokes, Bruce 2006. America Against the World: How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked. New York: Holt.Google Scholar
Kuhn, Theresa. 2011. “Europa Ante Portas: Border Residence, Transnational Interaction and Euroscepticism in Germany and France.European Union Politics 13 (1): 94117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laxer, James. 2003. The Border: Canada, the U.S. and Dispatches from the 49th Parallel. Toronto: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Lennox, Patrick. 2009. At Home and Abroad: The Canada–US Relationship and Canada's Place in the World. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1990. Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Martin, Pierre. 2011. “Québec and the Psycho-Cultural Dimension of the U.S.–Canada Partnership: Distinct Societies, Distinct Perceptions.” In Forgotten Partnership Redux: Canada–U.S. Relations in the 21st Century, ed. Anderson, Greg and Sands, Christopher. Amherst NY: Cambria.Google Scholar
Mendelsohn, Matthew and Wolfe, Robert. 2000. “Probing the Aftermyth of Seattle: Canadian Public Opinion on International Trade, 1980–2000.International Journal 56 (2): 234–60.Google Scholar
Munton, Don, and Poel, Dale H.. 1977–78. “Electoral Accountability and Canadian Foreign Policy: The Case of Foreign Investment.International Journal 33 (1): 217–47.Google Scholar
Murray, J. Alex and Gerace, Mary C.. 1972. “Canadian Attitudes toward the U.S. Presence.Public Opinion Quarterly 36 (3): 388–97.Google Scholar
Murray, J. Alex and LeDuc, Lawrence. 1976. “Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Options in Canada.Public Opinion Quarterly 40 (4): 488–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevitte, Neil. 1996. The Decline of Deference: Canadian Value Change in Cross-National Perspective. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevitte, Neil, Anderson, Leigh and Brym, Robert. 2002. “Ten Years After: Canadian Attitudes toward Continentalism.” In NAFTA in the New Millennium, ed. Chambers, Edward J. and Smith, Peter H.. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 185212.Google Scholar
Nossal, Kim Richard. 2008. “A Thermostatic Dynamic? Electoral Outcomes and Anti-Americanism in Canada.” In The Political Consequences of Anti-Americanism, ed. Higgott, Richard and Malbašić, Ivona. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
O'Connor, Joe. 2013. “One Town, Two Countries.National Post (Toronto). September 12.Google Scholar
Payne, David E. 1978. “Cross-National Diffusion: The Effects of Canadian TV on Rural Minnesota Viewers.American Sociological Review 43 (5): 740–56.Google Scholar
Payne, David E. and André Caron, H.. 1982. “Anglophone Canadian and American Mass Media: Use and Effects on Québécois Adults. Communication Research 9 (1): 113–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peritz, Ingrid. 2009. “Border Blues.Globe and Mail (Toronto), May 23.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, Thomas F. 1998. “Intergroup Contact Theory.Annual Review of Psychology 49: 6586.Google Scholar
Rankin, David M. 2004. “Borderline Interest or Identity? American and Canadian Opinion on the North American Free Trade Agreement.Comparative Politics 36 (3): 331–51.Google Scholar
Sigler, John H. and Goresky, Dennis. 1974. “Public Opinion on United States–Canadian Relations.International Organization 28 (4): 637–68.Google Scholar
Soroka, Stuart N. 2003. “Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy.Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 8 (1): 2748.Google Scholar
Vincenty, Thaddeus. 1975. “Direct and Inverse Solutions of Geodesics on the Ellipsoid with Application of Nested Equations.Survey Review 23 (176): 8893.Google Scholar
Von Riekhoff, Harald and Neuhold, Hanspeter, eds. 1993. Unequal Partners: A Comparative Analysis of Relations between Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany and Between Canada and the United States. Boulder CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Warf, Phillip S. and Kull, Steven. 2002. “Tepid Traders: U.S. Public Attitudes on NAFTA and Free Trade Expansion.” In NAFTA in the New Millennium, ed. Chambers, Edward J. and Smith, Peter H.. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 213–38.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. 2009. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. 4th ed. Mason OH: South-Western.Google Scholar
Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Image

Gravelle Supplementary Material

Figure S1

Download Gravelle Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 13.4 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Gravelle Supplementary Material

Figure S2

Download Gravelle Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 13.4 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Gravelle Supplementary Material

Figure S3

Download Gravelle Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 13.4 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Gravelle Supplementary Material

Figure S4

Download Gravelle Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 13.4 MB