Being Canadian in the World

Abstract

It is widely believed that Canada's role in world is inextricably linked to its national identity: to be Canadian, it is thought, is to be a global citizen on world stage.1 Indeed, public opinion data suggest that Canadians' strong sense of internationalism is intertwined with their sense of national identity.2 Yet despite important link between Canada's role on world stage and its national identity, limited attention has been paid to how this relationship might be relevant for public opinion attitudes on international issues in Canada.In this article, we examine identity-public opinion dynamic by drawing upon social identity research, which emphasizes importance of individuals' group identities to public opinion and attitude formation. We present evidence that suggests that, in addition to other factors, Canadians' group identifications help shape their attitudes toward international issues. Based on these findings, article forwards a new understanding of social psychological determinants of international public opinion in Canada, revealing that how Canadians situate themselves relative to their group identifications matters to their opinions on Canada's role in world. The relationship between group identifications and policy attitudes, we argue, allows policymakers a better sense of future public opinion on international policy issues and provides policy actors with a potential means by which to sway public opinion on international policy.NATIONAL IDENTITY AND CANADA'S ROLE IN THE WORLDPublic opinion is relevant to international policy debate and formulation in Canada. Although public attitudes are seldom directly translated into policy outcomes, public opinion influences elite debate and, ultimately, public policy outcomes.3 While public opinion may play policy-setting or agenda-setting roles in other fields, in international policy domain public attitudes are best viewed as parameter-setting.4 International policy attitudes establish the boundaries or limits of acceptable policy options of international policy.5 Given its parameter-setting role, it is important for policymakers and policy researchers to understand prevailing contours of public opinion, including how and why Canadian international opinion varies.Psychological variables, like partisanship, ideology, and values, are important predictors of international policy attitudes.6 However, researchers have yet to fully consider relevance of social psychological variables such as individuals' subjective group identities to international policy attitudes in Canada. There is reason to believe that individuals' group identities, and particularly their national identities, influence their opinions toward international issues. Social psychology research, and particularly social identity theory, suggests that group identifications influence how people think, feel, behave, and define themselves.7 Further, literature indicates that individuals are motivated to establish and maintain positive group identities, and that these identities are clarified through comparisons between in- and out-groups.8 Group identifications have been shown to influence public perceptions across a variety of policy fields.9 One reason for this identity-opinion congruence is that group identifications may provide cues on political information and knowledge, thus enabling individuals to conform to more prototypical in-group member values and beliefs on a range of public policy issues. Group identities may be especially relevant to policy domains that are particularly complex, such as international policy issues.10Group identification may provide attitudinal cues on public policy issues that are especiaUy salient to that particular group identity. In Canadian context, a group identity that has held historical relevance to international policy issues is national identity. It is important here to note distinction between collective national identity, which includes cohesive articulation of a nation by various actors (i. …