Opinion Structure Among New Democratic Party Activists

A Comparison with Liberals and Conservatives

Bibliographic Data

ID6238892
AuthorsKeith Archer (University of Calgary), Alan Whitehorn (0009-0008-2595-4579, Royal Military College of Canada)
Year1990
Volume23
Issue1
Pages101-113
Publication date1990-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0008423900011641
OpenAlexW2314807911
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited2

There is substantial disagreement over the extent to which political parties in Canada can be distinguished on ideological grounds. Research on mass publics has usually concluded that ideology plays only a modest role in structuring orientations towards parties. However, a growing body of survey data on party activists suggests a greater degree of ideological clarity and policy cohesiveness. This note extends earlier research by Blake, Johnston and Perlin on Liberal and Conservative convention delegates and compares them with delegates to the 1987 federal New Democratic party convention. Survey data on convention delegates suggest that political activists array themselves in a relatively consistent manner across a range of issues in ways that are compatible with a left/right ideological typology. Our findings also suggest that New Democrats display the greatest consensus and ideological distinctiveness of the three parties studied

CLARITY · Convention · Democracy · Group cohesiveness · Ideology · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Typology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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