The US Public’s Views of Paradiplomacy, 1988–2024

Abstract US state and local governments engage in many activities involving foreign relations, from officials’ trips abroad to maintaining offices to promote trade and investment to passing resolutions about foreign policy. Yet we know little about what the public thinks about these activities. I report on a 2024 survey of Americans’ paradiplomacy views that updates a 1988 poll conducted by the federal Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. I find increased support for paradiplomatic activities, but I also find that the degree of support varies by activities’ objective, demographic characteristics, and partisan identity. Gubernatorial and mayoral travel for cultural or economic purposes elicits less opposition than climate-related trips. Urban respondents view city council resolutions on international activities more favorably than suburban or rural residents. Republicans generally support subnational international engagement less than Democrats. These data illuminate the domestic opportunity structures influencing US subnational governments’ external activities and open new lines of inquiry.