Introduction

This book argues that distinctive motifs launched by signal events characterize different eras in the history of Canada's political parties.An implicit theory undergirding the book is that political parties have adjusted, adapted, and sometimes reinvented themselves in order to respond to significant social and economic changes and cultural cues.Sometimes the parties have shaped or reinforced those social forces.Motifs or recurring elements in distinct eras of Canadian party politics speak to particular dominant ideas.The story begins by reviewing the rise of four different types of parties in the nineteenth century after the establishment of representative governments in British North America late in the eighteenth century and before the creation of the Canadian state.By the turn of the twentieth century two national parties that continue to this day, the Conservatives and Liberals, became firmly established.The book concludes by examining some changes in how the ever-evolving parties have operated.Nineteenth-century party leaders, activists, and voters would not recognize today's political parties.The historical arc of Canada's political parties reflects the arc of Canadian history.Using largely secondary sources, this chronologically organized and easy-to-follow book, something of a primer, explores how the parties have emerged and addressed the conflicts and tensions of a society permanently under construction.Attention is focused on overarching themes and some of the ideas, personalities, social forces, and institutional structures that have driven the parties.Inevitably much is left in the shadows.This book aims to enlighten non-specialist students of Canadian politics and general readers who have some knowledge or are somewhat innocent of Canadian history.Academic specialists will also find it interesting, encountering some things unfamiliar to them.Offering an accessible yet substantial understanding of the development of the

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.