Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:40:23.229Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Alignment, Realignment, and Dealignment in Canada: The View From Above

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2013

Richard Johnston
Richard Johnston*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
*
Richard Johnston, University of British Columbia, C424-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z1, richard.johnston@ubc.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. The Canadian party system exhibits both “stable dealignment,” defined as directionless volatility and relative stability. But the boundary between the system's orderly and disorderly parts is not that clear in conventional wisdom, which contrasts big, inclusive parties with small parties representing ideas or interests. In fact, the relatively stable parties have been the NDP and the Liberals, in contrast to the Conservatives and a rotating cast of province- or region-specific insurgents. Volatility is a feature mainly of Quebec and the West and is greater in federal than in provincial elections. But geographic divergence is greater in provincial elections. The paper proposes a research program to account for Canada's coexistence of opposites.

Résumé. Le système de partis politiques canadien présente à la fois un «désalignement stable», défini comme une volatilité sans direction, et une relative stabilité. Cependant, la frontière entre les parties ordonnées et désordonnées du système n'est pas stylisée comme le veut la sagesse populaire qui contraste grands partis inclusifs et petits partis représentant des idées ou des intérêts particuliers. En fait, ce sont le NPD et les libéraux qui représentent les partis relativement stables du système en opposition au Parti conservateur et à une série de partis « insurgés » spécifiques à une province ou à une région. La volatilité est quant à elle principalement une caractéristique du Québec et des provinces de l'Ouest tout en étant plus présente sur le plan fédéral que provincial. La divergence géographique est toutefois plus grande aux élections provinciales. Cet article propose donc un programme de recherche afin de mieux expliquer la coexistence de ces contraires au Canada.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 245 - 271
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2013 

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

Alvarez, R. Michael and Nagler, Jonathan. 1998. “When Politics and Models Collide: Estimating Models of Multiparty Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 42: 55–96.Google Scholar
Bakvis, Herman. 1988. “The Canadian Paradox: Party System Stability in the Face of a Weakly Aligned Electorate.” In Parties and Party Systems in Liberal Democracies, ed. Wolinetz, Steven B.. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bakvis, Herman and Macpherson, Laura G.. 1995. “Quebec Block Voting and the Canadian Electoral System.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 28: 659–92.Google Scholar
Bartolini, Stefano and Mair, Peter. 1990. Identity, Competition, and Electoral Availability: The stabilisation of European electorates 1885–1985. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Éric. 2003. “Issue Ownership by Canadian Political Parties 1953–2001.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 36: 539–58.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Éric. 2004a. “The Rise of Third Parties in the 1993 Canadian Federal Election: Pinard Revisited.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37: 581–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bélanger, Éric. 2004b. “Antipartyism and Third-Party Vote Choice: A Comparison of Canada, Britain, and Australia.” Comparative Political Studies 37 (9): 1054–78.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Éric and Stephenson, Laura B.. 2010. “Parties and Partisans: The Influence of Ideology and Brokerage on the Durability of Partisanship in Canada.” In Voting Behaviour in Canada, ed. Anderson, Cameron D. and Stephenson, Laura B.. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Belanger, Paul and Eagles, Munroe. 2006. “The Geography of Class and Religion in Canadian Elections Revisited.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 39 (3): 591–609.Google Scholar
Blais, André. 1973. “Third Parties in Canadian Provincial Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 6: 422–38.Google Scholar
Blais, André. 2005. “Accounting for the Electoral Success of the Liberal Party in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 38: 821–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André, Gidengil, Elisabeth, Nadeau, Richard and Nevitte, Neil. 2002. “Do Party Supporters Differ?” In Citizen Politics: Research and Theory in Canadian Political Behaviour, ed. Everitt, Joanna and O'Neill, Brenda. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Blake, Donald E. 1972. “The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 5: 55–81.Google Scholar
Blake, Donald E. 1979. “1896 and All That: Critical Elections in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 12: 259–79.Google Scholar
Blake, Donald E. 1982. “The Consistency of Inconsistency: Party Identification in Federal and Provincial Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 15 (4): 691–709.Google Scholar
Boix, Carles. 2007. “The Emergence of Parties and Party Systems.” In The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, ed. Boix, Carles and Stokes, Susan. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E. and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. The American Voter. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Caramani, Daniele. 2004. The Nationalization of Politics: The Formation of National Electorates and Party Systems in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth. 1988. “Three Canadian Party Systems: An Interpretation of the Development of National Politics.” In Party Democracy in Canada, ed. Perlin, G.C.. Toronto: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth, Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Chhibber, Pradeep and Kollman, Ken. 2004. The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Clarke, Harold and Stewart, Marianne C.. 1987. “Partisan Inconsistency and Partisan Change in Federal States: The Case of Canada.” American Journal of Political Science 31 (2): 383–407.Google Scholar
Clarke, Harold D., Jenson, Jane, LeDuc, Lawrence and Pammett, Jon H.. 1996. Absent Mandate: Canadian Electoral Politics in an Era of Restructuring. Toronto: Gage.Google Scholar
Cochrane, Christopher. 2010. “Left/Right Ideology and Canadian Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 43: 583–605.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W. 1997. Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University 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: 859–80.Google Scholar
Cutler, Fred, Johnston, Richard and Lockhart, Julia. 2012. “Cognitive Madisonianism with Staggered Elections: Balancing and its Alternatives.” Vancouver BC: University of British Columbia, unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Duverger, Maurice. [1954] 1963. Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State, trans. North, Barbara and North, Robert. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Elkins, David J. 1978. “Party Identification: A Conceptual Analysis.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 11: 419–35.Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert S. and Filippov, M. G.. 2001. “Electoral Balancing in Federal and Sub-National Elections: The Case of Canada.” Constitutional Political Economy 12 (4): 313–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 1995. Waiting for the Wave: The Reform Party and Preston Manning. Toronto: Stoddart.Google Scholar
Gaines, Brian J. 1997. “Where to Count Parties.” Electoral Studies 16: 49–58.Google Scholar
Gaines, Brian J. 1999. “Duverger's Law and the Meaning of Canadian Exceptionalism.” Comparative Political Studies 32: 835–61.Google Scholar
Gaines, Brian J. and Crombez, Christophe. 2004. “Another Look at Connections Across German Elections.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 16 (3): 289–319.Google Scholar
Jackman, Robert. 1972. “Political Parties, Voting, and National Integration: The Canadian Case.” Comparative Politics 4: 511–36.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane. 1975. “Party Loyalty in Canada: The Question of Party Identification.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 8: 543–53.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard. 1980. “Federal and Provincial Voting: Contemporary Patterns and Historical Evolution.” In Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life, ed. Elkins, David J. and Simeon, Richard. Toronto: Methuen.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard. 1991. “The Geography of Class and Religion in Canadian Elections.” In Voting in Canada, ed. Wearing, Joseph. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard. 2008. “Polarized Pluralism in the Canadian Party System.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 41: 815–34.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard, Blais, André, Brady, Henry E. and Crête, Jean. 1992. Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard, Fournier, Patrick and Jenkins, Richard. 2000. “Party Location and Party Support: Unpacking Competing Models.” Journal of Politics 62: 1145–60.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard and Cutler, Fred. 2009. “Canada: The Puzzle of Local Three-Party Competition.” In Duverger's Law of Plurality Voting: The Logic of Party Competition in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, ed. Grofman, Bernard, Blais, André and Bowler, Shaun. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
LeDuc, Lawrence. 1984. “Canada: The Politics of Stable Dealignment.” In Electoral Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies: Realignment or Dealignment? ed. Dalton, Russell J., Flanagan, Scott C. and Beck, Paul Allen. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin. [1950] 1968. Agrarian Socialism: The Co-operative Commonwealth in Saskatchewan. A Study in Political Sociology. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Lohmann, Susanne, Brady, David and Rivers, Douglas. 1997. “Party identification, retrospective voting, and moderating elections in a federal system: West Germany, 1961–1989.” Comparative Political Studies 30: 759–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Lawrence. 2010. Harperland: The Politics of Control. Toronto: Penguin.Google Scholar
Martin, Pierre. 2005. Dynamiques partisanes et réalignements électoraux au Canada 1867–2004. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Meguid, Bonnie. 2008. Party Competition between Unequals: Strategies and Electoral Fortunes in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Merolla, Jennifer, Stephenson, Laura B. and Zechmeister, Elizabeth J.. 2008. “Can Canadians Take a Hint? The (In)Effectiveness of Party Labels as Information Shortcuts in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 41: 673–96.Google Scholar
Morton, W.L. 1950. The Progressive Party in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Pétry, François. 1999. “The Opinion–Policy Relationship in Canada.” Journal of Politics 61 (2): 540–50.Google Scholar
Pétry, François and Mendelsohn, Matthew. 2004. “Public Opinion and Policy Making in Canada 1994–2001.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37: 505–29.Google Scholar
Pinard, Maurice. 1975. The Rise of a Third Party: A Study in Crisis Politics. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Rae, Douglas W. 1967. The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard. 1974. “Comparability in Electoral Studies.” In Electoral Behavior: A Comparative Handbook, ed. Rose, Richard. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., Forbes, H. D. and Melzer, Ian. 1974. “Party Loyalty and Electoral Volatility: A Study of the Canadian Party System.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 7: 268–88.Google Scholar
Soroka, Stuart, Cutler, Fred, Stolle, Dietlind and Fournier, Patrick. 2011. “Capturing Change (and Stability) in the 2011 Campaign.” Policy Options (June–July): 70–77.Google Scholar
Stewart, Marianne C. and Clarke, Harold D.. 1998. “The Dynamics of Party Identification in Federal Systems: The Canadian Case.” American Journal of Political Science 42 (1): 97–116.Google Scholar
White, Graham. 1973. “One-Party Dominance and Third Parties: The Pinard Theory Reconsidered.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 6: 399–421.Google Scholar