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Political Culture and the Problem of Double Standards: Mass and Elite Attitudes Toward Language Rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Paul M. Sniderman ,
Joseph F. Fletcher ,
Peter H. Russell  and
Philip E. Tetlock
Paul M. Sniderman
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Joseph F. Fletcher
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Peter H. Russell
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Philip E. Tetlock
Affiliation:
University of California
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Abstract

Language rights represent claims of entitlement not only on behalf of individuals, but also on behalf of linguistic communities. As such, they raise deep questions of identity and affinity for Canadians. This study, the first report of the Charter Project, investigates mass and elite attitudes toward language rights in Canada. Beginning with the problem of double standards—whether anglophones and francophones want to affirm certain rights for their own group but not for the other—this study finds that attitudes toward language rights are shaped by an interplay between core values to which citizens subscribe and their concern for the status of the groups, both linguistic and partisan, with which they identify.

Résumé

Les droits linguistiques représent des revendications de droits non seulement pour le compte des personnes, mais aussi pour celui des communautés linguistiques. À ce titre, elles soulèvent pour les Canadiens(nes) de profondes questions d'identité et d'affinité. La présente étude, qui est le premier rapport du Projet de la Charte, sonde les attitudes des masses et des élites envers les droits linguistiques au Canada. En commençant par le problème de double standard, à savoir si les anglophones et les francophones veulent ou non affirmer certains droits pour leur propre communauté, et non pour l'autre, la presente étude trouve que les attitudes envers les droits linguistiques sont façonnées par une interaction entre les valeurs essentielles auxquelles les citoyens(nes) souscrivent et leur préoccupation quant à la position à la fois linguistique et partisane de la communauté à laquelle ils (elles) s'identifient.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , June 1989 , pp. 259 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1989

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References

1 Russell, Peter H., “The Political Purposes of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Canadian Bar Review 61 (1983), 30–54.Google Scholar

2 Cairns, Alan C., “Political Science, Ethnicity and the Canadian Constitution,” paper presented at the conference on Federalism and the Question of Political Community, York University, 1988.Google Scholar See also Cairns, Alan C., “Citizens (Outsiders) and Governments (Insiders) in Constitution-Making: The Case of Meech Lake,” Canadian Public Policy 14 (1988), S121–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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4 This distinction between strategic and normative reasoning is analytic; in any given individual, the two may be so interrelated as to be indistinguishable. In addition, both types of reasoning share an analytic footing; it should not be assumed that one or the other is a superior source of support for rights from the perspective of democratic theory. In what sense and under what conditions one may be superior is an independent question, separate from our empirical analysis.

5 For a partial and instructive exception, see Ornstein, Michael D. and Stevenson, H. Michael, “Elite and Public Opinion Before the Quebec Referendum: A Commentary on the State in Canada,” this Journal 14 (1981), 745–74.Google Scholar

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14 It should be noted that too few non-Quebec francophones and Quebec anglophones are included in a random national sample of Canadians to permit meaningful analyses using these groups.

15 It should be noted that the composition of the francophone decision-maker sample is disproportionately composed of political elites, and the latter is disportionately composed of Parti québécois legislators, a point we shall develop in the section below on politics and rights.

16 A. G. Quebec v. Quebec Association of Protestant School Boards [1984] 2 S.C.R. 66.

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18 McClosky and Brill, Dimensions of Tolerance, Table A.4, Appendix C, pp. 481–88.

19 Ibid.; McClosky, and Zaller, , The American Ethos; and Sniderman, Paul M., Tetlock, Philip E., Glaser, James M., Green, Donald Phillip and Hout, Michael, “Principled Tolerance and the American Mass Public,” British Journal of Political Science 19 (1989), 25–45.Google Scholar

20 Details of the indices constructed are presented in the appendix to this article.

21 The measures employed here are based upon the relevant questions from the fraternity index supplemented by two items regarding women which read, “How important is it to guarantee equality between men and women in all aspects of life?” and “Do you think large companies should have quotas to ensure afixed percentage of women are hired, or should women get no special treatment?” Note that since these measures are based upon substantially different questions, it is inappropriate to compare tolerance levels across minority groups.

22 Blache, Pierre, “The Mobility Rights (Section 6): Commentary,” in Tarnopolsky, Walter S. and Beaudoin, Gérald-A. (eds.), The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Toronto: Carswell, 1982), 239–55.Google Scholar

23 It should be pointed out that this version of the question was administered to one-quarter of the sample only, so sampling errors are commensurately larger.

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25 Cairns, “Political Science, Ethnicity and the Canadian Constitution.”

26 For clarity, let us emphasize that the results reported are for anglophones asked about francophone rights because differences of opinion about language rights are concentrated among anglophones. See, for comparison, the discussion of non-British, non-French Quebeckers in Monnier, Daniel, La perception de la situation linguistique par les Québécois: Analyse des résultats d'un sondage effectué en octobre 1985 (Quebec: Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1986).Google Scholar

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28 A parallel investigation into the effects of occupational status not reported here yielded similar results.

29 Respondents were asked whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the following statement: “To preserve the French culture and heritage in Canada, the use of English in advertising should be prohibited in certain parts of the country.” A “no opinion” category was also provided. See also Monnier, Daniel, La Langue d'affichage: Analyse d'un sondage CROP réalisé en juin 1986 (Montreal: Conseil de la langue françhise, 1986).Google Scholar