POPULISM AND THE RISE OF THE REFORM PARTY IN ALBERTA

The early rise in popular support for the Reform Party of Canada is di scussed from the vantage point of two long-standing theories of populi st mobilization, the first focussing on class position and the second emphasizing nativism. Data from a province-wide survey of Alberta resi dents conducted in 1991 reveal that farmers, a particular segment of t he petite bourgeoisie, were more likely than any other class group to state that they would vote Reform in a federal election. Albertans who identified themselves as Canadians rather than identifying with a par ticular ethnic or racial group, and to a lesser extent those of Anglo- Saxon/Celtic origin, were somewhat more likely to support the Reform P arty. In addition, Albertans with strong feelings on a number of speci fic social and political issues (multiculturalism, gender equality, di stinct status for Quebec, lenient treatment of criminals) were also at tracted to the Reform Party, as were those who felt generally politica lly alienated.