Political Science Political Parties
The Regional Decline of a National Party
Liberals on the Prairies
- Publisher
- University of Toronto Press
- Initial publish date
- Dec 1981
- Category
- Political Parties, General, Elections
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781487574871
- Publish Date
- Dec 1981
- List Price
- $35.95
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Description
During the past twenty years, the Liberal party has shown a marked failure to hold a place in the hearts and minds of the voters of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Professor Smith here argues convincingly that the party is largely the author of its own downfall through insensitivity to regional concerns and ignorance of the implications of its centralizing tendencies.
Smith views the reforms which helped restore the Liberals to federal power after defeat in 1957 as a primary cause of the party’s continuing poor electoral performance in the region. He chronicles that shift from a political structure dominated by strong provincial spokesmen like Gardner and Garson to the reorganized federal Liberal party, which emphasizes control from national headquarters and favours a more scientific approach, relying on opinion polls, ad agencies, and campaign colleges for candidates.
The result has been a decline in voter support and a lack of regional participation in party councils – and the adoption by the party of policies unacceptable to the West. The west thus has come to perceive the Liberal party as dominated by eastern Canada and preoccupied with the problem of Quebec separatism. The consequences have become increasingly evident at election times.
About the author
David E. Smith, FRSC, is the author of Federalism and the Constitution of Canada, The People’s House of Commons, and many books on Canadian politics. He is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University.
Other titles by
The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors
Canada at 150
The Invisible Crown
The First Principle of Canadian Government
The Invisible Crown
The First Principle of Canadian Government
Across the Aisle
Opposition in Canadian Politics
Federalism and the Constitution of Canada
The People's House of Commons
Theories of Democracy in Contention
Letters Home
The Wartime Correspondence and Diary of John Edwin Gardiner, RCAF (1919-1942)
The Republican Option in Canada, Past and Present
Jimmy Gardiner
Relentless Liberal
Prairie Liberalism
The Liberal Party in Saskatchewn 1905-71