Globalization and migration increase cross-border connections. This study investigates how these ties affect support for foreign aid in donor nations.
Key Argument: Two mechanisms explain the relationship: group interests and cosmopolitanism.
An original survey experiment embedded within a national survey of one thousand Latino Americans reveals significant variation in transnational tie strength among this demographic, which correlates strongly with overall levels of foreign aid support.
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The experimental findings demonstrate an unexpected result: location matters little. Survey respondents vary the location (Americas vs Africa) of hypothetical US foreign aid programs.
The results show that despite different tie strengths, Latinos equally favor aid directed toward both nearby Latin America and distant Africa.
Testing generalizability to other racial/ethnic groups in the US and UK finds group interests are more influential elsewhere. This suggests the mechanisms operate differently across communities.
Why It Matters: The study highlights two distinct pathways linking transnational ties to foreign policy attitudes: one based on ethnic kinship networks, another rooted in a cosmopolitan outlook that transcends geographical distance.
| Transnational Ties and Support for Foreign Aid was authored by Lauren Prather. It was published by Oxford in ISQ in 2020. |
