This paper examines the nature of support for the Reform Party of Canada in the 1993 federal election. First, a general hypothesis of the typical Reform voter is established. This profile is based on an investigation of the party’s historical precedents, the political beliefs of the leader, policies and platforms, and the media portrayal of the Reform party. After establishing the Reform profile, the hypothesis is then compared with data from the 1993 National Election Study (NES). The NES data reflects a wide range of public sentiments, reporting the structure of opinion on many salient public issues. By using the crosstabulation procedure, the extent to which voting Reform is linked with particular sentiments is revealed. The result of this exercise is a confirmation of the Reform profile. Voting Reform was linked to economic liberalism: Reformers are likely to be concerned about the deficit and high taxation, favour freer trade flows, and are likely to cut rather than maintain social programs. Socially and morally, the data confirmed that Reformers are likely to maintain a traditional or conservative position. An exception to this forecast was that one’s position on abortion was irrelevant to voting Reform. As predicted, Reformers are more likely than not to be hostile toward differential treatment for ethnic minorities, and to want decreased levels of immigration. True to the Reform profile, voting Reform was linked to political alienation, but it was also linked to high levels of political interest. In a few areas, the data on demographic variables contradicted the Reform profile: voting Reform was not linked with church membership, nor with a belief in the importance of God. As well, older voters are not more likely to vote Reform, as projected. Overall, the NES data confirms the initial profile of the study and it is concluded that the Reform vote in the 1993 election substantiates the popular image of the party.

This paper examines the nature of support for the Reform Party of Canada in the 1993 federal election. First, a general hypothesis of the typical Reform voter is established. This profile is based on an investigation of the party’s historical precedents, the political beliefs of the leader, policies and platforms, and the media portrayal of the Reform party. After establishing the Reform profile, the hypothesis is then compared with data from the 1993 National Election Study (NES). The NES data reflects a wide range of public sentiments, reporting the structure of opinion on many salient public issues. By using the crosstabulation procedure, the extent to which voting Reform is linked with particular sentiments is revealed. The result of this exercise is a confirmation of the Reform profile. Voting Reform was linked to economic liberalism: Reformers are likely to be concerned about the deficit and high taxation, favour freer trade flows, and are likely to cut rather than maintain social programs. Socially and morally, the data confirmed that Reformers are likely to maintain a traditional or conservative position. An exception to this forecast was that one’s position on abortion was irrelevant to voting Reform. As predicted, Reformers are more likely than not to be hostile toward differential treatment for ethnic minorities, and to want decreased levels of immigration. True to the Reform profile, voting Reform was linked to political alienation, but it was also linked to high levels of political interest. In a few areas, the data on demographic variables contradicted the Reform profile: voting Reform was not linked with church membership, nor with a belief in the importance of God. As well, older voters are not more likely to vote Reform, as projected. Overall, the NES data confirms the initial profile of the study and it is concluded that the Reform vote in the 1993 election substantiates the popular image of the party. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This thesis endeavours to answer the question, “What does the Reform Party’s ‘populism’ consist of?” An attempt is made herein to characterize the nature of the Reform Party’s populism via Margaret Canovan’s typology of populisms. The analysis concludes that the Reform Party manifests the characteristics of two of the seven different kinds of populist phenomena that Canovan identifies. It is found, on the one hand, that through his “antipolitical” rhetorical orientation, Reform Party leader Preston Manning evinces a certain form of what Canovan refers to as “politicians’ populism.” On the other hand, it is posited that the party’s policies vis a vis federal bilingualism, multiculturalism and immigration programs reflect Canovan’s conception of “reactionary populism.”

This thesis endeavours to answer the question, “What does the Reform Party’s ‘populism’ consist of?” An attempt is made herein to characterize the nature of the Reform Party’s populism via Margaret Canovan’s typology of populisms. The analysis concludes that the Reform Party manifests the characteristics of two of the seven different kinds of populist phenomena that Canovan identifies. It is found, on the one hand, that through his “antipolitical” rhetorical orientation, Reform Party leader Preston Manning evinces a certain form of what Canovan refers to as “politicians’ populism.” On the other hand, it is posited that the party’s policies vis a vis federal bilingualism, multiculturalism and immigration programs reflect Canovan’s conception of “reactionary populism.” / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1997. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 397-423). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ27314.

It is well recognized that the 1993 election campaign catapulted the Reform party into the national political scene, but our understanding of how this was possible is quite limited. Drawing on the work in cognitive psychology on attitude change, the work on the news media coverage of elections, and the political science work on election campaigns, this thesis locates the impetus for Reform's success in the dynamic flow of information about the party that was available in television news broadcasts and voters' likelihood of being persuaded by that information. This link is developed by an analysis that makes use of a content analysis of the 1993 campaign, the 1993 Canadian Election Study, and a merged analysis of the election and news data. The Reform party began the campaign as a minor component of the news coverage of the election, but the news media coverage changed dramatically. Reform was provided with more news access than its support indicated it deserved and that coverage focused on what became a major theme of the election; the welfare state and the role of government. Coverage of Reform underwent a further change as it both decreased and focused on cultural issues during the last two weeks of the campaign. Using a two-mediator model of attitude change, the analysis shows that people who were predisposed to agree with Reform's anti-welfare state message and who were likely to be aware of the news information, changed both their perceptions of the party and increased their support for the party. Further support for the impact of the media is derived from the analysis of voter response to the second change in news coverage. The analysis suggests that campaigns do matter, but that the size of the impact is dependent upon the underlying uncertainty associated with the parties and candidates, and on the degree to which the information flow of the campaign changes. The information flow contributes to both learning and priming among people who receive and accept new information. While voters respond reasonably to new information, the outcome will depend on what information voters are given and what information actually reaches the habitually unaware segments of the population.

This thesis is an examination of a moral, cultural and political movement referred to as the New Right. Its specific focus is on three Canadian right-wing organizations, each of which exhibits particular characteristics while at the same time sharing the basic ideological assumptions of the others. These organizations and their particular characteristics are: i) the prolife/profamily REAL Women of Canada and moral conservatism, ii) the anti-bilingualism and anti-Charter Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (APEC) and cultural conservatism, and iii) what was arguably the dominant New Right organization during its time — and as I show, among the weaker links in the New Right chain — the Reform Party of Canada and conservative populism. Though Reform was a relatively successful federal political party and the other two are pressure groups, the members in each nevertheless conceive of their respective organizations as vehicles for the authentic views of "the people." In other words, of these organizations see themselves as the true representatives of the majprity of citizens in English-speaking Canada who, they allege, have been deliberately denied political influence commensurate with their numbers since the era of left-leaning, "special interest" politics, policies and moral-cultural values took hold beginning in the late 1960s. By analyzing the New Right phenomenon in general and the three Canadian groups in particular, this project seeks to a) understand the ideological perspective of the movement; b) assess whatever tension, be it normative, policy-driven or strategic, existed between the groups examined herein; and c) determine whether or not such tension was indicative of a fundamental wealkness in the Canadian New Right. I also draw upon three basic questions to frame the analysis presented herein: 1. Is the Canadian New Right ideologically coherent? 2. What explains the New Right's relative lack of success in Canadian politics? 3. Is there a future for the New Right in Canadian politics? I keep these questions in mind throughout the thesis and reconsider them specifically in the concluding chapter.

It is well recognized that the 1993 election campaign catapulted the Reform party into the national political scene, but our understanding of how this was possible is quite limited. Drawing on the work in cognitive psychology on attitude change, the work on the news media coverage of elections, and the political science work on election campaigns, this thesis locates the impetus for Reform's success in the dynamic flow of information about the party that was available in television news broadcasts and voters' likelihood of being persuaded by that information. This link is developed by an analysis that makes use of a content analysis of the 1993 campaign, the 1993 Canadian Election Study, and a merged analysis of the election and news data. The Reform party began the campaign as a minor component of the news coverage of the election, but the news media coverage changed dramatically. Reform was provided with more news access than its support indicated it deserved and that coverage focused on what became a major theme of the election; the welfare state and the role of government. Coverage of Reform underwent a further change as it both decreased and focused on cultural issues during the last two weeks of the campaign. Using a two-mediator model of attitude change, the analysis shows that people who were predisposed to agree with Reform's anti-welfare state message and who were likely to be aware of the news information, changed both their perceptions of the party and increased their support for the party. Further support for the impact of the media is derived from the analysis of voter response to the second change in news coverage. The analysis suggests that campaigns do matter, but that the size of the impact is dependent upon the underlying uncertainty associated with the parties and candidates, and on the degree to which the information flow of the campaign changes. The information flow contributes to both learning and priming among people who receive and accept new information. While voters respond reasonably to new information, the outcome will depend on what information voters are given and what information actually reaches the habitually unaware segments of the population. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is an examination of a moral, cultural and political movement referred to as the New Right. Its specific focus is on three Canadian right-wing organizations, each of which exhibits particular characteristics while at the same time sharing the basic ideological assumptions of the others. These organizations and their particular characteristics are: i) the prolife/profamily REAL Women of Canada and moral conservatism, ii) the anti-bilingualism and anti-Charter Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (APEC) and cultural conservatism, and iii) what was arguably the dominant New Right organization during its time — and as I show, among the weaker links in the New Right chain — the Reform Party of Canada and conservative populism. Though Reform was a relatively successful federal political party and the other two are pressure groups, the members in each nevertheless conceive of their respective organizations as vehicles for the authentic views of "the people." In other words, of these organizations see themselves as the true representatives of the majprity of citizens in English-speaking Canada who, they allege, have been deliberately denied political influence commensurate with their numbers since the era of left-leaning, "special interest" politics, policies and moral-cultural values took hold beginning in the late 1960s. By analyzing the New Right phenomenon in general and the three Canadian groups in particular, this project seeks to a) understand the ideological perspective of the movement; b) assess whatever tension, be it normative, policy-driven or strategic, existed between the groups examined herein; and c) determine whether or not such tension was indicative of a fundamental wealkness in the Canadian New Right. I also draw upon three basic questions to frame the analysis presented herein: 1. Is the Canadian New Right ideologically coherent? 2. What explains the New Right's relative lack of success in Canadian politics? 3. Is there a future for the New Right in Canadian politics? I keep these questions in mind throughout the thesis and reconsider them specifically in the concluding chapter. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This study has attempted to explain the dramatic challenges to the existing party system that occurred in Canada and the United States in the early 1990s. The emergence of new political movements with substantial power at the ballot box has transformed both party systems. The rise of United We Stand America in the United States, and the Reform Party in Canada prompts scholars to ask what forces engender such movements. This study demonstrates that models of economic voting and key models of party system change are both instrumental for understanding the rise of new political movements.