Patriotism and Support for Free Trade Agreement

• In Event: Poster Session: Urban Politics & International Order, Environmental Issues, and IPE
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: International Order, Environmental Issues, and IPE

Abstract

The survey shows that the U.S. is one of the most patriotic countries in the world while Germany is the least. It coincidently appeared in a report on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that Germany records comparably lower support for the agreement than the U.S. Is patriotism related to the support for free trade agreements? Trade literature explores economic self-interest as an important factor for how people make trade policy preferences. However, others call the assumption of such motivation into question. Contributing to this debate, I argue that the people with a strong patriotic spirit tends to consider national interest over individual economic interest when building trade preferences, thus the level of individuals’ patriotism influences their opinions on trade policy. Supporting my theory, I conducted an experimental survey with 1,000 American voters during the 2020 election campaign. When I asked people about their preferences on a new trade agreement, around 50% of respondents changed their preferences when their supportive politician provided national security related information on the agreement. 57% of people changed opinion when presented with national economic information. Both results present a statistically higher effect than when no such information is provided. In addition, people who are more patriotic are more likely to change their preferences on the trade agreement when given national information than those who are less patriotic. The result shows that how much people like and support their nation influences their trade preferences.

Author

• Ji Yeon Park, Hitotsubashi University