His trilogy on these themes include Uncle Sam and Us: Globalization, Neoconservatism and the Canadian State, published in 2002; Does North America Exist?
Clarkson's knowledge and experience in Canadian politics led to the commissioning of a history of federal election campaigns in Canada from 1974 onward.
These essays were the basis of his 2005 book, The Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics.
He was a great encourager of “the engaged” life, taking his students on extra-curricular field studies to Washington, D.C., Mexico, Brazil, Madrid and Lisbon, and urging them to resist the world around them if they felt so inclined.
[1] In 2013 Clarkson was adjudged the Konrad Adenauer Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, in connection with his academic work at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.