The Changing Ideological Landscape in North America: Evidence from the World Values Surveys (1981–2000)

Abstract

There is a longstanding tradition of identifying the differences and similarities of the political cultures of Canada and the United States, and comparisons of their respective ideological landscapes have been a prominent part of that larger discourse. These comparisons have been approached from a variety of vantage points. Some rely on historical evidence arguing that contemporary similarities and differences are the product of “founding circumstances” and the present day variations are a product of these “historical residues” (Lower 1953; Hartz 1964; Horowitz 1966). Others argue that variations in the ideologies of Canada and the United States can be inferred from differences in the social structural and institutional characteristics of the two countries (Brady 1947; Lipset 1968, 1990). And yet others draw inferences about the comparative ideological climates of the two countries by fixing on the electoral successes and policy programmes of political parties associated with “the lefts” and “the rights” (Lipson 1959; LeDuc 1985; Hibbs 1987). Another alternative approach might be to sift through the elements of popular culture on both sides of the border and to interpret shifts, reversals, and new trajectories in terms of their “ideological content.” Each approach has different strengths and limitations, and each has yielded different kinds of insights.