The Same Only Different: Understanding Canada and the United States

How can Canada ensure it is not overlooked or taken for granted by the United States? That, in fact, Canada’s success is a central element of America’s success? This is the never-ending Canadian dilemma in Canadian-American relations. This book provides a brief comparative analysis of the Canada-United States relationship, including its political, economic, cultural, and international relations dimensions. To this end, it explores the comparative history and political cultures of the two countries; the institutions of their respective political systems; elections, political parties and voting; regionalism; public policies; and issues in Canadian-American relations. Across these many dimensions of comparison, it is clear that Canada and the United States are the same, only different.

Gregory J. Inwood is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Robert Speel is the program chair and an associate professor of Political Science at Penn State Behrend.