Populism and the triumph of the politics of identity: The transformation of the Canadian party system

Abstract

The collapse of the Canadian Conservative Party provides the clearest example of the displacement of the mainstream right by new parties that are neither left nor right on that traditional dimension. Using factor analyses, we relate neo‐populism to support for the Reform Party and Bloc Québécois. We argue that the politics of identity as a subcategory of neo‐populism is the best way to characterize this emerging category of parties. Electoral success causes such parties to lose their populist soul.