The traditions continue : leadership choices at Maritime Liberal and Conservative Party conventions
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Political Science, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Stewart, David Kenney
issued: 2011-01-27T21:40:44Z
issued: 1990
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: That leaders are important in Canadian party politics is almost axiomatic: they are the prime electoral resource, the ultimate policy authority and the focus of media attention. Yet little is known of what divides provincial parties when they choose a new master. The politics of provincial leadership conventions lie in uncharted waters. This thesis focuses on provincial parties, exploring support patterns at Maritime leadership conventions. The study draws primarily on data provided by unpublished surveys of delegates to Liberal and Progressive Conservative leadership conventions in the three Maritime provinces. These nine conventions took place between 1971 and 1986 and the delegate survey responses report the behaviour and attitudes of over 3100 party activists. The analysis develops provincial, partisan and secular comparisons. A framework for analysing delegate support patterns is derived from the literature on national conventions and Maritime politics. Application of this framework to the nine conventions reveals a recurring theme. Candidate support is best understood in a 'friends and neighbours' framework. Friends and neighbours refers first, to a non-factional geographic pattern of support. Simply put, delegates tend to support the local candidate, a neighbour. The second element of friends and neighbours support relates to ethno-religious ties. Candidates receive disproportionate support from delegates who are 'friends' in terms of shared religious or ethnic background. Friends and neighbours divisions were more important than attitude, age, gender or differences in social status: they were present throughout the period in each province and both parties. The importance of place and religion/ethnicity provide empirical evidence of Maritime traditionalism. The support patterns would be well understood by 19th century politicians and show no sign of dissipating. Attempts to link these patterns to age or level of education were unsuccessful. Virtually all dele…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/30916
note: THE TRADITIONS CONTINUE: LEADERSHIP CHOICES AT MARITIME LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONVENTIONS by DAVID KENNEY STEWART A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Political Science We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September 1990 ® David Kenney Stewart, 1990 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date lHA DE-6 (2/88) i i i Abstract That leaders are important i n Canadian party p o l i t i c s i s almost axiomatic: they are the prime e l e c t o r a l resource, the ultimate p o l i c y authority and the focus of media attention. Yet l i t t l e i s known of what divides p r o v i n c i a l parties when they choose a new master. The p o l i t i c s of p r o v i n c i a l leadership conventions l i e in uncharted waters. This thesis focuses on p r o v i n c i a l parties, exploring support patterns at Maritime leadership conventions. The study draws primarily on data provided by unpublished surveys of delegates to L i b e r a l and Progressive Conservative leadership conventions i n the three Maritime provinces. These nine conventions took place between 1971 and 1986 and the delegate survey responses report the behaviour and attitudes of over 3100 party a c t i v i s t s . The analysis develops p r o v i n c i a l , partisan and secular comparisons. A framework for analysing…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
spatial: Maritime Provinces
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0100414
language: eng
degree discipline: Political Science
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/30916