A wide-ranging analysis of public and elite attitudes reveals a hegemonic order through the early 1980s, built around public support for the institutions of the Canadian welfare state. But there was also widespread public alienation from politics. Public opinion was quite strongly linked to class but not to party politics. Regional variation in political ideology on a broad range of issues was less pronounced than differences between Quebec and English Canada. Much deeper ideological divisions separated the elites, with a dramatic polarization between corporate and labour respondents. State elites fell between these two, though generally more favourable to capital. The responses of the business elites reveal the ideological roots of the Mulroney years in support for cuts in social programs, free trade, privatization, and deregulation.

York University, Canada

Michael Ornstein's profile page

York University, Canada

Michael Stevenson's profile page

"[Politics and Ideology in Canada] is a very substantial and important piece of work. It is replete with thoughtful analysis, both conceptual and empirical. It pushes forward, significantly, the literature on the State and ideology ... This is a model for how empirical work in the area should be done; it is a model for how theoretical and empirical work may be joined with strong effect." Jim Curtis, Department of Sociology, University of Waterloo.