LAUSR

Although a large number of democracies have extended political rights to expatriates, relatively little is known about the depths of transnational political engagement. How attentive are expatriates to politics in the country of origin? When expatriates judge leaders “back home,” are their evaluations based on the same ideological considerations as those of citizens in the country of origin? Drawing from original surveys conducted during presidential elections in Mexico (2006) and Colombia (2010), in which both emigrants and citizens within the country were sampled, this study addresses these questions. The results indicate that for each nationality group, living abroad is not associated with a drop in political attentiveness, and time abroad does not in and of itself depress attention to politics from a distance. Moreover, emigrants and individuals in the country of origin do not vary in the extent to which ideological preferences are used to judge presidents, which is a key marker of political sophistication. These results suggest that in the context of Mexican and Colombian politics, living abroad does not markedly diminish the potential for effective democratic engagement. Resumen Si bien gran numero de democracias han extendido derechos politicos a los emigrantes, se sabe relativamente poco sobre el compromiso politico transnacional. ?Que tan atentos son los emigrantes a la politica del pais de origen? ?Cuando se juzga a los lideres de este pais, la evaluacion que les hacen los emigrantes se basa en las mimas consideraciones que los ciudadanos del pais de origen? Este estudio aborda estas preguntas utilizando encuestas originales realizadas durante las elecciones presidenciales en Mexico (2006) y en Colombia (2010) y donde ambos, emigrantes y ciudadanos dentro del pais de origen, fueron parte del muestreo. El resultado indica que en los dos casos de Mexico y Colombia el vivir fuera del pais no esta asociado con una baja de la atencion a lo politico, y que el tiempo vivido por fuera no reduce por si solo esta atencion desde la distancia. Aun mas, emigrantes e individuos en el pais de origen no difieren en la forma de usar las preferencias ideologicas para juzgar a los presidentes, lo que es una marca clave de sofisticacion politica. Estos resultados sugieren que en el contexto de la politica de Mexico y Colombia, vivir afuera no disminuye el potencial de compromiso politico democratico.