Providing Intergenerational Goods: Implementation of National Park System Plans in Canada and the United States

The provision of inter generational goods is a challenging task for democratic governments in that benefits arrive in the future but costs are borne in the present. Public agencies usually are assigned responsibility for providing such goods, but implementation of their long-term plans often is constrained by the short-term focus of other political actors. This argument is illustrated through a comparison of Canadian and American efforts to expand national park systems according to scientific criteria. Efforts in both nations have been constrained, albeit by different sets of institutional actors. The strong federal structure in Canada has enabled subnational actors to slow and compromise agency expansion plans. American agency efforts have been constrained by the acts of individual politicians at the federal level, particularly members of Congress     

Religiosity in Canada and the United States: Diverging Paths

Comparing degrees of religiosity, Canada and the US have been moving along divergent trajectories for the past several decades. Regional variations are evident in both societies, but, taken as a whole, the divergence holds up even when these intrasocietal differences are accounted for. Neither the classic secularization thesis nor the more popular religious economy model in the sociology of religion adequately explain the contemporary disparities in religious practice and belief in the two societies. More compelling explanations lie in human security and welfare state models. Canadian and US demographic patterns, particularly internal differences among recent immigrants, are additional explanatory factors. Levels of existential security and immigration trends in the two societies are likely to sustain the divergence in religiosity.     

Confidence in Political Institutions in Canada and the United States: Assessing the Interactive Role of Region and Race

This article uses nationally representative sample survey data to assess the confidence of Canadians and Americans in four major state institutions: the police; the civil service; the federal government; and political parties. Long-standing arguments suggest that Canadians are more trusting of government than Americans. Results, however, indicate small national differences, with variations within countries being much more important, especially for regional and racial subgroups within each nation. Consistent with their traditional minority position in Canada, Quebecers stand out as having the least confidence of respondents in either nation. In contrast, and despite their minority position, nonwhites express more confidence in political institutions than do whites in both countries, especially in English Canada. One exception is somewhat lower confidence in the police among nonwhites, particularly in the northern United States. The findings demonstrate the need to go beyond an exclusive focus on national differences when comparing political attitudes and values in Canada and the United States.     

The Impact of National Park Development on Tortuguero,Costa Rica

This study explores the relationship between Tortuguero National Park and Tortuguero, a neighboring village in northeastern Costa Rica. Based largely on a household survey, the study considers the effect of the establishment of the park on the subsistence and commercial economies of Tortuguero. It also considers the impact of park-based tourism and its potential role in the economic development of the community. Survey results indicate a general decline in the village's standard of living in the decade since the park was created, but an increase in nature tourism has somewhat offset the decline in commercial resource exploitation. Increased participation by villagers in park-based tourism appears to offer hope for sustainable economic development.     

With Our Eyes Closed: The United States and the Creation of South Vietnam

David L. Anderson. Trapped by Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam, 1953–61 . New York Columbia University Press, 1991. xv + 276 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $39.50.     

Empire and Cultures of Militarism in Canada and the United States

While Canadians have been described as an “unmilitary people,” their historic affections for empire have contributed to a conspicuous reluctance to criticize past military exploits. A tradition of anti-imperialism, meanwhile, has colored American attitudes to war, and produced a powerful current of antiwar sentiment throughout US history – even as that nation developed into a dominant imperial power. This essay finds the source of these national discrepancies in the founding myths of each country and in subsequent demographic, economic, strategic, and ideological transformations which have both reinforced and challenged each nation's traditional responses to empire. The result is a relationship between war, imperialism, and national identity that is multifaceted, often paradoxical, and in certain instances, surprisingly antiquated.     

Cross-Border Interest Group Learning in Canada and the United States

Many of the most prominent US interest groups have formal or informal relationships with Canadian groups. Yet groups in the two countries often have little incentive to share political strategies – to learn from each other. This article proposes that such learning can take place only when four factors are present: a stable relationship with governmental institutions; the resources to acquire useful political information; shared issues of concern; and a sense of being part of a well-defined cross-border region. The presence of these factors can promote the creation of enduring group networks, which in turn make cross-border political learning possible. The article presents case studies of environmental and business organizations in the New England/Atlantic Canada region to show the relationship between these determinants.     

Political Attention and Public Spending in the United States

According to Jones and Baumgartner's disproportionate information processing model, it is crucial to study fluctuations in congressional attention over time and across policy issues to understand congressional policy decisions including decisions on the federal budget. Drawing on classical ideas about reelection-oriented behavior, on the one hand, and the blocking power of federal agencies, on the other, this paper extends and specifies the attention-spending predictions of the disproportionate information processing model. Specifically, spending effects of congressional attention shifts are argued to be crucially dependent on both the spending preferences expressed by the U.S. public and on pressure from spending advocates. An empirical evaluation of the association between changes in congressional attention measures and federal budget appropriations across 12 spending domains and 33 years (1970–2003) supports this conditional hypothesis derived from the extended disproportionate information processing model.     

Vulnerabilities of Highly Skilled Immigrants in Canada and the United States

Despite similar permanent status immigration categories (Economic, Family, and Refugee), the experiences of skilled immigrants in Canada and the United States are quite different. The point system used to select applicants for the Economic Class in Canada makes skilled immigrants vulnerable to a number of perils after the migrant lands. Foreign credentials and work experience are discounted by Canadian employers, who also impose a discriminatory income penalty on minorities. While previous cohorts of Economic Class migrants may have been warned of these perils via reliable migrant networks, new Canadian research suggests that recent cohorts have no such safety net. This article examines the economic integration experiences of Economic Class migrants in the United States in light of the Canadian experiences. The vulnerabilities reported in Canada do not appear to be transferable to the United States, because immigration policy in the US stresses pre-landing employment commitments via employer sponsorship. Accordingly, prospective Economic Class migrants to the United States do not migrate without first knowing how their credentials and “minority status” will affect employment opportunities. However, for the 85,000 skilled workers admitted to the United States on H-1B temporary visas each year, the perils noted in the Canadian experience are relevant, as are a number of additional concerns.     

A History of Chinese Immigration in the United States and Canada

The 2005 Québec novel by Nicolas Dickner (English publication, 2008) presents intertextual effects that become a reflection on writing. The novel is a voyage of self-discovery while offering connections to Melville, Joseph Conrad, the German “bildungsroman,” nineteenth century classic novels, twentieth century French existentialist essays, Anglo-Saxon seafaring sagas, Central and South American imaginative tales, “cric-crac” stories of Québécois “raconteurs,” subversive Canadian novels, adventure stories, detective narratives, comic books and computer-generated discourse. This complex mise en abyme of writing through interlacing genres stands as a metaphor for diversity and rootlessness in North American society.