During the fall term, Professor James McCann from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana, USA) will be in residence in the Department of Political Science as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in North American Politics. During his stay at Carleton, he will conduct research on the political incorporation of immigrants, focusing in particular on Americans who are living in Canada.
While the US has historically prided itself on being a “nation of immigrants,” there is also substantial emigration from the country, with Canada being the top settlement destination. Many US citizens who move to Canada retain strong ties to one of the major American parties, follow news from the United States closely, and take part in American elections, including presidential primary elections. How do these kinds of cross-border political connections shape attitudes towards Canadian politics? Is there an inherent tension between involvement from the distance in US politics and political engagement in Canada? Or is participation in two distinct political systems mutually reinforcing?
Last summer, near the time of the Democratic and Republican national conventions in the United States, Professor McCann conducted an online survey of Americans in Canada. This survey contains many items on engagement in American and Canadian politics. He and his collaborator Ronald B. Rapoport of the College of William & Mary will present preliminary findings from this project at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in late-September. While at Carleton, McCann will dig more deeply into these survey findings and supplement them with material from in-depth qualitative interviews with American emigrants who live in the Ottawa area.
This work builds on earlier research that Professor McCann has conducted on the political attitudes and involvement of immigrants from Latin America who have settled in the United States.
The Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in North American Politics is sponsored by the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton University and the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program.