Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T16:45:51.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Rise of Third Parties in the 1993 Canadian Federal Election: Pinard Revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2005

Éric Bélanger
Éric Bélanger
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. This study proposes a new test of Maurice Pinard's theory on the rise of third parties applied to the case of the 1993 Canadian federal election. We assess the effect at the individual level of Pinard's factors (one-party dominance and grievances) on support for the Reform party and the Bloc Québécois using data from the Canadian Election Study. Logistic regression analyses of vote choice indicate that the extent to which the second major party was perceived to be electorally weak at the constituency level was a significant factor in leading some Western voters to support Reform. In Quebec, however, perceptions of predominance did not matter to a vote for the Bloc because the latter is a “radical” third party attracting support mostly on the basis of communal values and interests. The results further show that political grievances, but not economic ones, were a significant predictor of support for both third parties in that election.

Résumé. Cette étude propose un nouveau test empirique de la théorie de Maurice Pinard concernant la percée électorale des tiers partis. L'impact des facteurs de Pinard (prédominance d'un parti et présence de griefs) sur l'appui au Parti réformiste et au Bloc québécois à l'élection fédérale canadienne de 1993 est vérifié au niveau micro-sociologique à l'aide des données de l'Étude sur l'élection canadienne. Les analyses de régression logistique du vote indiquent que la perception que certains électeurs de l'Ouest avaient de la faible compétitivité du second parti traditionnel dans leur circonscription les a encouragés à appuyer le Parti réformiste. Au Québec, les perceptions de prédominance n'ont cependant pas eu d'effet significatif sur le vote en faveur du Bloc en raison du fait que ce dernier est un tiers parti “ radical ” dont l'appui repose principalement sur des valeurs et des intérêts de groupe. Les résultats indiquent enfin que, contrairement aux griefs de nature économique, les griefs politiques régionaux ont significativement contribué au succès électoral des deux partis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 581 - 594
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bélanger, Éric. 2004. “Antipartyism and Third-Party Vote Choice: A Comparison of Canada, Britain, and Australia.” Comparative Political Studies 37: 1054–78.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Éric and Richard Nadeau. 2005. “Political Trust and the Vote in Multiparty Elections: The Canadian Case.” European Journal of Political Research 44 (in press).Google Scholar
Bickerton, James, Alain-G. Gagnon and Patrick J. Smith. 1999. Ties That Bind: Parties and Voters in Canada. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
Bilodeau, Antoine. 2000. “Quel parti va gagner les élections? Avantages et faiblesses d'une question numérique.” Bulletin de méthodologie sociologique 67: 5–24.Google Scholar
Blais, André. 1973. “Third Parties in Canadian Provincial Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 6: 422–38.Google Scholar
Blais, André, Neil Nevitte, Elisabeth Gidengil, Henry E. Brady and Richard Johnston. 1995. “L'élection fédérale de 1993: le comportement électoral des Québécois.” Revue québécoise de science politique 27: 15–49.Google Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth, William Cross and Lisa Young. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Clarke, Harold D. and Allan Kornberg. 1996. “Partisan Dealignment, Electoral Choice and Party-System Change in Canada.” Party Politics 2: 455–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagles, Munroe and Stephen Erfle. 1993. “Variations in Third/Minor Party Support in English Constituencies: One-Party Dominance and Community Cohesion Perspectives.” European Journal of Political Research 23: 91–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 1995. Waiting for the Wave: The Reform Party and Preston Manning. Toronto: Stoddart.
Gagnon, Alain-G. and A. Brian Tanguay. 1996. “Minor Parties in the Canadian Political System: Origins, Functions, Impact.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, 2nd ed., eds. A. Brian Tanguay and Alain-G. Gagnon. Scarborough: Nelson Canada, pp. 106–34.
Godbout, Jean-François and Éric Bélanger. 2002. “La dimension régionale du vote économique canadien aux élections fédérales de 1988 à 2000.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 35: 567–88.Google Scholar
Irvine, William P. 1972. Review of Maurice Pinard's “The Rise of a Third Party.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 5: 313–15.Google Scholar
Johnston, Richard, André Blais, Elisabeth Gidengil and Neil Nevitte. 1996. The Challenge of Direct Democracy: The 1992 Canadian Referendum. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Kornberg, Allan and Harold D. Clarke. 1992. Citizens and Community: Political Support in a Representative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lanoue, David J. and Shaun Bowler. 1998. “Picking the Winners: Perceptions of Party Viability and Their Impact on Voting Behavior.” Social Science Quarterly 79: 361–77.Google Scholar
Laycock, David. 2002. The New Right and Democracy in Canada: Understanding Reform and the Canadian Alliance. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
Lemieux, Vincent. 1965. “Les dimensions sociologiques du vote créditiste au Québec.” Recherches sociographiques 6: 181–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 1988. Economics and Elections: The Major Western Democracies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Michaud, Denis. 1999. “L'évolution du comportement électoral fédéral entre 1984 et 1997 dans les quatre provinces de l'ouest: une analyse des appuis au Reform Party à partir du modèle théorique de Maurice Pinard.” M.A. dissertation, Université Laval, Quebec.
Nadeau, Richard, Daniel Guérin and Pierre Martin. 1995. “L'effondrement du Parti progressiste-conservateur à l'élection de 1993.” Revue québécoise de science politique 27: 123–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noël, Alain. 1994. “Distinct in the House of Commons: The Bloc Québécois as Official Opposition.” In Canada: The State of the Federation 1994, eds. Douglas M. Brown and Janet Hiebert. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, pp. 19–35.
Pinard, Maurice. 1964. “Political Factors in the Rise of Social Credit in Quebec.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Charlottetown.
Pinard, Maurice. 1971. The Rise of a Third Party: A Study in Crisis Politics. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Pinard, Maurice. 1973. “Third Parties in Canada Revisited: A Rejoinder and Elaboration of the Theory of One-Party Dominance.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 6: 439–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinard, Maurice, Robert Bernier and Vincent Lemieux. 1997. Un combat inachevé. Ste-Foy: Presses de l'Université du Québec.
Sayers, Anthony M. 1999. Parties, Candidates, and Constituency Campaigns in Canadian Elections. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Smelser, Neil J. 1963. Theory of Collective Behavior. New York: Free Press.
White, Graham. 1973. “One-Party Dominance and Third Parties: The Pinard Theory Reconsidered.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 6: 399–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Stephen. 2000. “Explaining the Rise of the NDP in Atlantic Canada.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Quebec City.