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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
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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 

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