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Do Canadians Distinguish Between Parties? Perceptions of Party Competence*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Richard Nadeau  and
André Blais
Richard Nadeau
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
André Blais
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
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Abstract

This study examines perceptions of party competence in four issue areas: inflation, unemployment, international affairs and Canadian unity. Using Gallup poll data from a 35-year period, the study shows that in three of the four issue areas Canadians clearly distinguish between parties. These distinctions do not merely reflect party popularity and are durable rather than immutable; perceptions change slowly but do respond to government performance. Canadians see the greatest differences between parties with respect to international affairs and Canadian unity; the Liberals enjoy a substantial lead on these two questions. On inflation, perceived competence tends to reflect popularity while on unemployment, Canadians have greater confidence in the New Democratic party. On all issues, the Conservative party image has substantially improved under the Mulroney government.

R´sum´

Cet article traite des perceptions qu'ont les Canadiens de la compétence de trois principaux partis politiques concernant les quatre enjeux suivants: l'inflation, le chômage, les affaires internationales et l'unité canadienne. Les données de sondages Gallup sur une période de 35 ans démontrent que, sur trois des quatre enjeux, les Canadiens distinguent clairment les partis; ces distinctions ne reflètent pas simplement la popularité des partis et elles sont relativement durables sans être immuables; ces perceptions, malgré leur relative inertie, évoluent cependant en fonction de la performance des différents gouvernements. Ce sont les domaines des affaires internationales et de l'unité canadienne qui distinguent le plus les partis, le Parti libéral étant jugé nettement plus compétent en ces matières. En ce qui concerne l'inflation, les évaluations correspondent sensiblement à la popularité des partis. Pour ce qui est du chômage, enfin, les Canadiens expriment une plus grande confiance (relative) à l'endroit du Nouveau parti démocratique. Sur tous les enjeux, l'image du Parti conservateur s'est considérablement ameliorée sous le gouvernement Mulroney.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , June 1990 , pp. 317 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1990

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21 We also ran regressions in which popularity was lagged. The results were very similar.