This dissertation is a case study of The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE),
a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1968, COPE
claims to represent a coming together of "ordinary citizens" united around a programme of
people's needs. In direct opposition to its chief political opponent, the corporatesponsored
Non-Partisan Association (NPA), COPE has attempted to articulate the diverse
issues and objectives of progressive movements within the civic electoral arena.
Following a neo-Gramscian approach, the research highlights both the internal and
external challenges confronting COPE throughout the party's long history in Vancouver
politics.
A neo-Gramscian perspective emphasizes the process of coalition-formation—that
is, the creation of a broadly inclusive and widely endorsed counter-hegemonic project. In
the advanced capitalist democracies, the task of building electoral coalitions has generally
been taken up by political parties that have either tried to gain the active support of social
movements, or dismissed their concerns as unwelcome 'distractions' from the main goal of
winning state power. However, as the limitations of conventional party politics became
increasingly apparent, and as new social movements began to challenge established
political boundaries, many experiments in constructing a "new" kind of party have taken
place. I have examined COPE as an instance of a "new politics" or movement-oriented
party. My research focuses on COPE's efforts to articulate the aims of "new" and "old"
political agendas, and to adopt a new social movement style within the realm of electoral
politics, thereby serving as a counter-hegemonic vehicle within the local political context.
The analysis begins with a review of the concrete practices and experiences of
several exemplary movement-oriented parties in various political settings. Based on this
literature, the conceptual framework of the study is narrowed to a focus on the content of
political debate and the style of political action expected of a movement-party. The COP
case study is also situated within the political-economic context of Vancouver's
development as a post-Fordist "global city." Systematic examination of COPE's archival
documents, observation of the group, and interviews with COPE members reveal that, in
its present form, COPE does not rise to the status of a counter-hegemonic force in
Vancouver politics, although its particular experience is instructive.
Analysis of COPE underscores the necessity of coalition-building around multiple
issues and identities, and the need to reconceive the notion of politics to include both
electoral and extra-parliamentary struggles. An examination of COPE's historical
evolution also points to the need for a greater degree of political flexibility in order to
effectively respond to the limits and possibilities presented by specific historical moments.
In a post-Fordist era, COPE's electoral appeals to "working people" or "ordinary people"
assume a homogeneity among progressive movements that is belied by interrelated
processes of economic polarization and political demobilization/exclusion, as well as by
the social diversity of the global city. A post-Fordist counter-hegemonic project requires a
vision and a political strategy capable of bridging the gaps between disparate interests and
movements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/10981 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Vogel, Donna |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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