Borderline interest or identity? American and Canadian opinion on the North American free trade agreement

Comparative Politics

Volumn 36, Issue 3, 2004, Pages

  Rankin, David M ^a  

^a STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT FREDONIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 2442636652     PISSN: 00104159     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/4150134     Document Type: Review

References (82)

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22. Paul Midford, "International Trade and Domestic Politics: Improving on Rogowski's Model of Political Alignments," International Organization, 47 (1993), 535-64; Ronald Rogowski, Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989).
23. Robert Reich, The Work of Nations (New York: Knopf, 1991).
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25. Jane Jensen and Rianne Mahon, eds., Canadian and American Labor Respond: Economic Restructuring and Union Strategies (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993).
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27. Dani Rodrick, Has Globalization Gone Too Far? (Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 1997).
28. Kenneth Scheve and Matthew Slaughter, Globalization and the Perceptions of American Workers (Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2001).
29. Richard K. Herrmann, Philip E. Tetlock, and Matthew N. Diascro, "How Americans Think about Trade: Reconciling Conflicts among Money, Power, and Principles," International Studies Quarterly, 45 (2001), 191-218.
30. Ibid., p. 215.
31. Matthew Mendelsohn and Robert Wolfe, "Probing the Aftermyth of Seattle: Canadian Public Opinion on International Trade, 1980-2000," International Journal (Spring 2001), 251.
32. Sears, "The Role of Affect in Symbolic Politics," p. 17.
33. Cohen, p. 160.
34. Lauren McLaren, "Public Support for the European Union: Cost/Benefit Analysis or Perceived Cultural Threat," The Journal of Politics, 64 (2002), 555.
35. Amy Skonieczny, "Constructing NAFTA: Myth, Representation, and the Discursive Construction of U.S. Foreign Policy," International Studies Quarterly, 45 (2001), 433-54; Cohen, pp. 147-50; Mayer, p. 257.
36. Amy Skonieczny, "Constructing NAFTA: Myth, Representation, and the Discursive Construction of U.S. Foreign Policy," International Studies Quarterly, 45 (2001), 433-54; Cohen, pp. 147-50; Mayer, p. 257.
37. Amy Skonieczny, "Constructing NAFTA: Myth, Representation, and the Discursive Construction of U.S. Foreign Policy," International Studies Quarterly, 45 (2001), 433-54; Cohen, pp. 147-50; Mayer, p. 257.
38. Jack Citrin, Ernst Haas, Christopher Muste, and Beth Reingold, "Is American Nationalism Changing? Implications for Foreign Policy," International Studies Quarterly, 38 (1994), 23.
39. Mendelsohn and Wolfe, p. 253.
40. Ian Angus, A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality, and Wilderness (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997); Samuel Huntington, "American Identity: The Erosion of National Interests," Current, 397 (1997), 8-17; Jim Sidanius, Seymour Feshbach, Shana Levin, and Felicia Pratto, "The Interface between Ethnic and National Attachment: Ethnic Pluralism or Ethnic Dominance," Public Opinion Quarterly, 61 (1997), 102-33; Knud Knudsen, "Scandinavian Neighbours with Different Character? Attitudes toward Immigrants and National Identity in Norway and Sweden," Acta Sociologica 40 (1997), 223-43.
41. Ian Angus, A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality, and Wilderness (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997); Samuel Huntington, "American Identity: The Erosion of National Interests," Current, 397 (1997), 8-17; Jim Sidanius, Seymour Feshbach, Shana Levin, and Felicia Pratto, "The Interface between Ethnic and National Attachment: Ethnic Pluralism or Ethnic Dominance," Public Opinion Quarterly, 61 (1997), 102-33; Knud Knudsen, "Scandinavian Neighbours with Different Character? Attitudes toward Immigrants and National Identity in Norway and Sweden," Acta Sociologica 40 (1997), 223-43.
42. Ian Angus, A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality, and Wilderness (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997); Samuel Huntington, "American Identity: The Erosion of National Interests," Current, 397 (1997), 8-17; Jim Sidanius, Seymour Feshbach, Shana Levin, and Felicia Pratto, "The Interface between Ethnic and National Attachment: Ethnic Pluralism or Ethnic Dominance," Public Opinion Quarterly, 61 (1997), 102-33; Knud Knudsen, "Scandinavian Neighbours with Different Character? Attitudes toward Immigrants and National Identity in Norway and Sweden," Acta Sociologica 40 (1997), 223-43.
43. Ian Angus, A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality, and Wilderness (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997); Samuel Huntington, "American Identity: The Erosion of National Interests," Current, 397 (1997), 8-17; Jim Sidanius, Seymour Feshbach, Shana Levin, and Felicia Pratto, "The Interface between Ethnic and National Attachment: Ethnic Pluralism or Ethnic Dominance," Public Opinion Quarterly, 61 (1997), 102-33; Knud Knudsen, "Scandinavian Neighbours with Different Character? Attitudes toward Immigrants and National Identity in Norway and Sweden," Acta Sociologica 40 (1997), 223-43.
44. Ole Hosti, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996).
45. Stephen Shulman, "Nationalist Sources of International Economic Integration," International Studies Quarterly, 44 (2000), 372.
46. Citrin, Haas, Muste, and Reingold, pp. 7-8.
47. Stephen Krasner, ed., Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Political Possibilities (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001); Saskia Sassen, Losing Control? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
48. Stephen Krasner, ed., Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Political Possibilities (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001); Saskia Sassen, Losing Control? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
49. De Master and Le Roy, p. 426.
50. Joyce Hoebing, Sidney Weintraub, and Delal Baer, NAFTA and Sovereignty: Trade-Offs for Canada, Mexico, and the United States (Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1996).
51. John Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
52. Herrmann, Tetlock, and Diascro, p. 210; Mendelsohn and Wolfe, p. 241.
53. Herrmann, Tetlock, and Diascro, p. 210; Mendelsohn and Wolfe, p. 241.
54. Matthew Mendelsohn, Robert Wolfe, and Andrew Parkin, "Globalization, Trade Policy, and the Permissive Consensus in Canada," Canadian Public Policy (September 2002), 351-71.
55. Paul Sniderman, Richard Brody, and Philip Tetlock, Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 159-63.
56. The data were made available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The ISSP did not include survey data on Mexico, which inhibited a direct comparative analysis of American, Canadian, and Mexican public opinion on NAFTA.
57. John H. Sigler and Dennis Goresky, "Public Opinion on United States-Canadian Relations," International Organization, 28 (1974), 637-68.
58. Seymour M. Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword (New York: W. W. Norton, 1996), p. 102.
59. Seymour M. Lipset, Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada (New York: Routledge, 1990).
60. Factor analysis identifies variables that are correlated and subsets that are relatively independent of one another, and varimax rotation is commonly utilized in the construction of appropriate scales from multiple items in comparative analyses. See, for example, Roel Meertens and Thomas Pettigrew, "Is Subtle Prejudice Really Prejudice?" Public Opinion Quarterly, 61 (1997), 54-71.
61. One should caution that the underlying dimensions are a function of the items utilized and may not account for other conceptions of national identity were other items employed. However, the Aspects of National Identity module of the ISSP provides an unusually rich source of nationality items, and exploratory factor analysis was utilized to define the most substantive factors.
62. Question wording for the three items, where 1=agree strongly, 5=disagree strongly: (1) Generally speaking, America/Canada is a better country than most other countries. (2) I would rather be a citizen of America/Canada than of any other country in the world. (3) The world would be a better place if people from other countries were more like people in America/Canada. Alpha reliability for an American scale (.75) and a Canadian scale (.68).
63. Sidanius, Feshbach, Levin, and Pratto, pp. 108-9.
64. Kathleen M. Dowley and Brian D. Silver, "Subnational and National Loyalty: Cross-National Comparisons," International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 12 (2000), 357-71.
65. Question wording for the three items, where 1=agree strongly, 5=disagree strongly: (1) America/Canada should follow its own interests, even if this leads to conflicts with other nations. (2) Foreigners should not be allowed to buy land in America/Canada. (3) American/Canadian television should give preference to American/Canadian films and programs. Alpha reliability for an American scale (.71) and a Canadian scale (.65).
66. Patricia Goff, "Invisible Borders: Economic Liberalization and National Identity," International Studies Quarterly, 44 (2000), 544-49.
67. Question wording for the three items, where 1=disagree strongly, 5=agree strongly: (1) Ethnic minorities should be given government assistance to preserve their customs and traditions. (2) Schools should make much greater effort to teach foreign languages properly. (3) Do you think the number of immigrants nowadays should be, 1=reduced a lot, 5=increased a lot? Alpha reliability for an American scale (.61) and a Canadian scale (.55).
68. Citrin, Haas, Muste, and Reingold, p. 6.
69. Kenneth McRoberts, "Canada and the Multinational State," Canadian Journal of Political Science, 34 (2001), 687-713.
70. The objective is to analyze stated support for or against NAFTA. "Don't knows" and uncertain responses were not included in the analysis. Canadian and American opinion toward NAFTA were both coded as binary variables where 0=Against NAFTA, 1=For NAFTA.
71. Based on the assumptions of the Hecksher-Ohlin model, this study examines occupational skill as a proxy for economic self-interest across sectors. Scheve and Slaughter find that industry of employment is not systematically related to trade policy preferences. Workers in trade-exposed industries, such as textiles and apparel, are not more likely to oppose freer trade when controlled for skill levels.
72. For example, union membership was coded 1 for those indicating they "are a member in a trade union" at present, and 0 otherwise. Pink collar workers were an excluded category in the models. Education was coded as the equivalent of 1=less than high school to 5=college graduate or higher. Income consisted of thirty income levels ranging from $700 to $90,000+.
73. North American closeness was measured by the question: "How close do you feel to North America?" 1=not close at all to 5=very close. Transnational mobility was measured by the question: "If you could improve your work or living conditions, how willing or unwilling would you be to move outside America/Canada?" 1=very unwilling to 5=very willing. Age ranged from eighteen to ninety-five.
74. Ideological identification was coded according to ISSP values, where 1=far left, 2=left/center left, 3=center, 4=right/conservative, 5=far right.
75. Standardized logit coefficients were computed in order to determine the relative importance of the variables and are available upon request from the author.
76. Michael D. Cobb and James H. Kuklinski, "Changing Minds: Political Arguments and Political Persuasion," American Journal of Political Science, 41 (1997), 88-121.
77. Lipset, American Exceptionalism, p. 106.
78. Skoniesczny, p. 439.
79. Shulman, p. 376.
80. Archival records of the Canadian Trade Negotiating Office, June 23, 1987.
81. Goff, p. 560.
82. Ibid., pp. 538-39.