Some Aspects of New Democratic Party Urban Support in 1965

Abstract

It is now a more or less established feature of Canada's political life that many sectors of the Canadian electorate are disposed to reject the two “major” political parties in favour of “minor” party alternatives. Recently, the New Democratic party, one of these so-called minor parties, has received substantial electoral support especially in urban English Canada, to such an extent that it is now bidding either to replace one of the major parties or to join both of them in a position of relative equality. Until now, the rather scanty commentaries attempting to account for this “deviant” electoral behaviour of some Canadians have tended to be highly speculative.This article analyses survey findings that shed some light on the NDP phenomenon in the 1960s in four cities in English Canada. It begins by examining the economic and social elements in partisan choice, emphasizing religion and class identification. Next it deals with political habits and attitudes and with party identification and issue orientation. Following this, some of the characteristics of people switching to the NDP are probed. Finally, the findings are related to other research on the topic and some limited comments about the future are made.