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Nationalization and Regionalization in the Canadian Party System, 1867–2015

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2020

Scott Pruysers ,
Anthony Sayers  and
Lucas Czarnecki
Scott Pruysers*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University, 6299 South Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova ScotiaB3H 4R2
Anthony Sayers
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AlbertaT2N 1N4
Lucas Czarnecki
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AlbertaT2N 1N4
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: scott.pruysers@dal.ca
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Abstract

The regionalization of the Canadian party system is a topic that has occupied Canadian scholars for decades. While there have undoubtedly been periods of significant regionalization (for example, the 1990s) and while these periods have been well documented, there has been very little systematic study of regionalization/nationalization in the Canadian party system. We address this gap by exploring nationalization of the Canadian party system from 1867 to 2015. To do so, we apply two measures. First, we consider how nationalized party competition is by exploring the extent to which parties compete in districts across the entire country. Second, we compliment this approach by applying the Gini coefficient to vote shares, revealing the extent to which Canadian parties have (un)even electoral support from province to province. In doing so, we explore not only the system as a whole but individual parties as well.

Résumé

Résumé

La régionalisation du système des partis canadien est un sujet qui occupe les chercheurs du pays depuis des décennies. Bien qu'il y ait eu sans nul doute des périodes de régionalisation importante (notamment au cours des années 1990) et bien que ces périodes aient été bien documentées, la régionalisation/la nationalisation du système des partis canadien n'a fait l'objet que de très peu d'études systématiques. Nous comblons cette lacune en explorant la nationalisation du système des partis canadien de 1867 à 2015. Pour ce faire, nous effectuons deux mesures. Nous appliquons en premier lieu le coefficient de Gini aux parts de vote, ce qui révèle le degré auquel les partis canadiens ont un soutien électoral (in)égal d'une province à l'autre. Nous complétons cette approche en analysant comment la concurrence s'instaure entre les partis nationalisés et dans quelle mesure elle s’étend aux circonscriptions de l'ensemble du pays. Ce faisant, nous considérons non seulement le système dans son ensemble, mais également ses différentes composantes.

Keywords

political partiesparty systemsnationalizationregionalizationCanada
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 151 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2020

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Footnotes

The University of Calgary–affiliated authors include a colleague and a recently completed graduate student from the department of the English-language editorial team. To maintain objectivity, a member of the preceding editorial team provided oversight over both the review process and editorial decisions for this submission. This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant # 435-2019-0964).

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