EVALUATIONS AND EVOLUTION - PUBLIC-ATTITUDES TOWARD CANADA FEDERAL POLITICAL-PARTIES, 1965-1991

This article employs national survey data gathered over the past quart er century to analyze the evolution and present state of public attitu des toward Canada's federal political parties. A 1991 survey employing new questions on evaluations of party performance reveals that these evaluations are structured in terms of two dimensions, and that negati ve judgments on both dimensions are pervasive. The significance of the current negativism is assessed using 1965-1991 data on Canadians' fee lings about and identifications with the federal parties. Although for a long time party affect has been lukewarm at best, and partisanship has been weak and unstable, negative trends have magnified the disaffe ction and dealignment. The discontent has accelerated in recent years, as the percentage of Liberal and Progressive Conservative identifiers has plummeted, and the non-identifier group has swelled to record lev els, particularly in Quebec. The article concludes by considering the implications of these findings for the future of the federal party sys tem.