Grassroots Politicians is the first systematic account of party activists at the provincial level in Canada. To understand the pattern of political polarization in British Columbia, the authors examine the values and beliefs of those at the party cores -- the people behind the party images who elect leaders, nominate candidates, and work in electoral campaigns. In the New Democratic Party they play a crucial role in determining policy, in the Social Credit they help to shape party direction and governing style by their choice of leader, and, among the Liberals, they form the small band that keeps the party alive in the province.

Grassroots Politicians: Party Activists in British Columbia

History

Blake, Donald E.

Americas

UBC Press

They are questions of long standing in political science: Do parties matter? What effects, if any, do politics have on society? The authors of this careful and articulate book approach these questions by looking at one social group -- public sector employees -- and examine the hypothesis that parties and governments of the left are more generous toward these employees than those of the right. This far-reaching study encompasses the central governments of four countries -- Canada, United States, Britain, and France -- from the 1950s to the end of the 1980s.Public sector employees, being both part of society and part of government, offer an excellent case study to test the autonomy of politics from society. After rigorous research, Blais, Blake, and Dion confirm that in the great majority of cases, the left is indeed more generous than the right, with some unusual and provocative exceptions. There is an alliance, they affirm, albeit a loose one, between pubic sector employees and the left, an alliance that is consistent over time in Europe and in North America.Governments, Parties, and Public Sector Employees also shows that when the left has to choose between more employment and higher wages for public employees, it tends to choose the former, suggesting that ideology is more important than supporters' pressures in inducing party divergence."This is solid piece of comparative analysis. Rather than just supporting conventional wisdom, (the authors) find enough odd cases, nuances, and surprises to fully justify their analysis as something new and very interesting. Its combination and accessibility and solid social science should make this book useful to both advancedundergraduates, the informed public, and the social science community". David Loweny University of North Carolina

Governments, Parties and Public Sector Employees: Canada, United States, Britain, and France (Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies)

Business & Money

Blais, André

Dion, Stéphane

Economics

Univ of Pittsburgh Pr

Studying the central governments of Canada, the United States, Britain and France, from the 1950s to the 1980s, this book focuses on the example of public sector employees and argues that parties and governments of the left are more generous towards these employees than those of the right.

Governments, Parties, and Public Sector Employees: Canada, United States, Britain, and France (Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies)

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Books by Blake, Donald E.