Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T20:02:34.664Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Left/Right Ideology and Canadian Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2010

Christopher Cochrane
Christopher Cochrane*
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
*
Christopher Cochrane, Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy (LISPOP), Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaN2L 3C5, email: ccochrane@wlu.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. This article examines the influence of ideology in Canadian politics. The core theory is that political opinions are bound together into ideological clusters by underlying influences that affect simultaneously the opinions of individuals about more than one issue. The central hypothesis is that ideological disagreement between the left and the right is asymmetrical, that is, that leftists and rightists bundle in different ways their opinions about issues. The analysis draws on evidence from Benoit and Laver's survey of experts (2006) about the policy positions of political parties, the Comparative Manifesto Research Project (Budge et al., 2001; Klingemann et al., 2006), and Cross and Young's survey of Canadian political party members (2002). The results of the analysis indicate, first, that Canada's left/right ideological divide is wide by cross-national standards, and, second, that leftists and rightists organize their opinions about the world in different ways.

Résumé. Cet article examine l'influence des idéologies dans l'environnement politique canadien. La théorie centrale stipule que les opinions politiques sur diverses questions sont structurées en groupes idéologiques consolidés par des influences sous-jacentes qui affectent simultanément les opinions des individus. L'hypothèse principale découlant de cette théorie est que la structure du désaccord idéologique entre la gauche et la droite est asymétrique; plus précisément, que les individus situés à la gauche et à la droite du spectre politique canadien organisent de manière différente leurs opinions politiques. L'analyse s'appuie tout d'abord sur les données d'un sondage auprès d'experts politiques réalisé par Benoit et Laver (2006) et portant sur les positions politiques des partis. Elle utilise également les données du Comparative Manifesto Research Project (Budge et al. 2001; Klingemann et al., 2006) et celles d'un sondage d'opinion de Cross et Young (2002) effectué auprès des membres de partis politiques canadiens. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent, en premier lieu, qu'il existe un clivage important entre la droite et la gauche au Canada même lorsqu'il est observé dans une perspective comparative, et en second lieu, que les individus se situant à la gauche et à la droite du spectre politique ont tendance à organiser de manière différente leurs opinions sur le monde.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 583 - 605
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albright, Jeremy J. and Park, Hun Myoung. 2009. “Confirmatory Factor Analysis Using Amos, LISREL, Mplus, and SAS/STAT CALIS.” Working Paper. The University Information Technology Services (UITS) Center for Statistical and Mathematical Computing, Indiana University. http://www.indiana.edu/~statmath/stat/all/cfa/index.html (Accessed July 5, 2009).Google Scholar
Alford, John R., Funk, Carolyn L. and Hibbing, John R.. 2005. “Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted?” American Political Science Review 99(May): 153–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, David V.J. 1992. The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Benoit, Kenneth and Laver, Michael. 2006. Party Policy in Modern Democracies. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bickerton, James and Gagnon, Alain-G.. 2004. “Political Parties and Electoral Politics.” In Canadian Politics, ed. Bickerton, James and Gagnon, Alain-G. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Blais, André, Gidengil, Elisabeth, Nadeau, Richard and Nevitte, Neil. 2002. Anatomy of a Liberal Victory: Making Sense of the Vote in the 2000 Canadian Election. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Blais, André, Gidengil, Elisabeth, Nevitte, Neil, Fournier, Patrick and Everitt, Joanna (principal investigators). 2004. Canadian Election Studyhttp://www.chass.utoronto.ca/datalib/inventory/0000/471.htm (Accessed November 25, 2008).Google Scholar
Blake, Donald. 1988. “Division and Cohesion: The Major Parties.” In Party Democracy in Canada: The Politics of National Party Conventions, ed. Perlin, George. Scarborough ON: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Bobbio, Noberto. 1996. Left and Right: The Significance of a Political Distinction. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Brodie, Janine and Jenson, Jane. 1996. “Piercing the Smokescreen: Stability and Change in Brokerage Politics.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Tanguay, A. Brian and Gagnon, Alain-G.. Scarborough ON: Thomson.Google Scholar
Budge, Ian, Klingemann, Hans-Dieter, Volkens, Andrea, Bara, Judith and Tanenbaum, Eric. 2001. Mapping Policy Preferences: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments 1945–1998. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth, Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Chappell, Henry W. and Keech, William R.. 1986. “Policy Motivation and Party Differences in a Dynamic Spatial Model of Party Competition.” The American Political Science Review 80(3): 881–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, Harold, Jenson, Jane, LeDuc, Lawrence and Pammett, Jon H.. 1996. Absent Mandate: Canadian Electoral Politics in an Era of Restructuring. Toronto: Gage.Google Scholar
Conover, Pamela J., and Feldman, Stanley. 1981. “The Origins and Meaning of Liberal/Conservative Self-identifications.” American Journal of Political Science 25(November): 617–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Converse, Phillip E. 1964. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and Discontent, ed. Apter, David E.. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2002. “Policy Attitudes of Party Members in Canada: Evidence of Ideological Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 35(4): 859–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2004. “The Contours of Political Party Membership in Canada.” Party Politics 10(4): 427–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 2007. Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Gibbins, Roger and Nevitte, Neil. 1985. “Canadian Political Ideology: A Comparative Analysis.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 18(3): 577–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, Harry H. 1976. Modern Factor Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Gad. 1966. “Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation.” The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 32(2): 143–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Richard. 1988. “The Ideological Structure of Opinion on Policy.” In Party Democracy in Canada: The Politics of National Party Conventions, ed. Perlin, George. Scarborough: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Jöreskog, Karl G. 1990. “New Developments in LISREL: Analysis of Ordinal Variables Using Polychoric Correlations and Weighted Least Squares.” Quality and Quantity 24(4): 387–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert with Anthony J. McGann. 1995. The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. Ann Arbor MI: The University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Klingemann, Hans-Dieter, Volkens, Andrea, Bara, Judith, Budge, Ian and McDonald, Michael. 2006. Mapping Policy Preferences II: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments in Eastern Europe, European Union and OECD 1990–2003. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, Ronald D., Curtis, James E., Brown, Steven D. and Kay, Barry J.. 1986. “In Search of Left/Right Beliefs in the Canadian Electorate.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 19(3): 541–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laponce, Jean A. 1981. Left and Right: The Topography of Political Perceptions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Laycock, David. 2002. The New Right and Democracy in Canada: Understanding Reform and the Canadian Alliance. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour M. 1986. “Historical Traditions and National Characteristics: A Comparative Analysis of Canada and the United States.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 11(2): 113–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallory, James R. 1984. The Structure of Canadian Government. Toronto: Gage.Google Scholar
Matthews, J. Scott. 2005. “The Political Foundations of Support for Same-sex Marriage in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 38(4): 841–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClosky, Herbert and Zaller, John. 1984. The American Ethos: Public Attitudes toward Capitalism and Democracy. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevitte, Neil, Blais, André, Gidengil, Elisabeth and Nadeau, Richard. 2000. Unsteady State: The 1997 Canadian Federal Election. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Nevitte, Neil, and Cochrane, Christopher. 2007. “Value Change and the Dynamics of the Canadian Partisan Landscape.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Gagnon, Alain-G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. Peterborough: Broadview.Google Scholar
Noël, Alain and Théren, Jean-Phillipe. 2008. Left and Right in Global Politics. New York: Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patten, Steve. 2007. “The Evolution of the Canadian Party System.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Gagnon, Alain-G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Wiseman, Nelson. 1996. “Provincial Political Cultures.” In Provinces: Canadian Provincial Politics, ed. Dunn, Christopher C.. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Wiseman, Nelson. 2007. In Search of Canadian Political Culture. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Wittman, Donald. 1983. “Candidate Motivation: A Synthesis of Alternative Theories.” The American Political Science Review 77(1): 142–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar