Nationalist and cosmopolitan approaches to the nation: a citizen’s perspective and its electoral impact

Abstract

Whether it is about Quebec independence, French language or immigration, nationalism is a crucial feature of Quebec politics. The Quebec 2018 election is not an exception. Scholars have developed theories about individual identity, the nation and nationhood, but we lack a citizens’ perspective. We provide the first thorough description of Quebeckers’ nationalism, which reveals a roughly normal (i.e. non-polarized) distribution of ethnic nationalism attitudes. Most importantly, we measure ethnic nationalism with a never tested measure in Quebec and we show that it substantially explains vote choice in the Quebec 2018 election—especially the support for the Coalition Avenir Quebec. Our research builds bridges between debates in political philosophy and political science and deepens our understanding of the Quebec 2018 election.