Nelson Wiseman. in Search of Canadian Political Culture

Nelson Wiseman. In Search of Canadian Political Culture. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2007.346 pp. $85.00 hc. $32.95 sc. The idea ofpolitical developed first by American scientist Gabriel Almond in 1950s during ascendance of behavioural revolution, is given new life in Nelson Wiseman's Canadian-focussed account. By eschewing traditional focus on a singular national culture, as well as utility of relying solely on ahistorical public opinion surveys, Wiseman brings a variety of historical, institutional, and attitudinal evidence to bear in an account that suggests Canada is defined by at least five distinct regional/provincial cultures. These cultures are to be found in: 1) Atlantic Canada (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia); 2) Quebec; 3) Ontario; 4) Midwest (Manitoba and Saskatchewan); and 5) Far West (Alberta and British Columbia). For Wiseman, a key element that sets apart five sub-national cultures he identifies is variable impact of immigration over time. In particular, he suggests relevance of distinct waves of immigration beginning with that from France (which lasted until 1760) and concluding with most recent post-1945 wave from Southern Europe, Asia, Caribbean, and Latin America. The frameworks advanced in 1950s and 1960s by Louis Hartz, Gad Horowitz, and Seymour Martin Lipset shared an attempt to identify cultural and ideological variations between and within United States and Canada. Wiseman builds on these frameworks, and makes them less static, by incorporating elements of Canadian economy tradition sensitive to economics (class politics and staples, or resource exports). In so doing, Wiseman puts forward a nuanced account, that is, somehow more open to possibility of change. Thus, for example, rather than focusing only on formative events (such as stress Lipset placed on arrival of Loyalists in Canada following American revolution), Wiseman also advances idea ofquakes (the discovery of oil in 1947 in Alberta would be an example of a quake). As he puts it more generally, the influences what is to come, but that future in not absolutely bound by or obligated to that past (263). Following a lively introduction, first five chapters of volume address idea of political with special reference to Canada. Here we learn that history (especially immigration history), surveys, institutional structures (including constitution and party systems), and socialization play a role in identifying culture. The last five chapters of book address each of five sub-national cultures identified by Wiseman. It is hard to fault a book when writer offers qualification. As Wiseman asserts of his of Canadian culture from outset, No claim is made that it is only possible explanation or definitive interpretation (10). …

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