Revisiting the Sectoral Cleavage in Canada: Evidence From the Canadian Election Studies
Matthew Polacko, Peter Graefe & Simon Kiss
Canadian Review of Sociology = Revue Canadienne De Sociologie
Voting social democracy class Canada elections public opinion
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According to the budget-maximizing bureaucrat model, public sector employees should rationally seek to increase government budgets to increase their own power. In contrast to most advanced democracies, class and sectoral voting has largely been neglected in Canada. The ideological and voting preferences of the public sector has been unexamined since the 1980s. Using the Canadian Election Study (1968–2019), we revisit and expand on this literature. We find that the public sector holds more economically leftist attitudes than the public and that a sectoral cleavage has emerged, with public sector employees increasingly supporting the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP). We also find that social class moderates these two relationships, as professionals and managers in the public sector are significantly more likely to vote for the NDP and hold more leftist economic attitudes than their counterparts in both the private sector, and the routine non-manual and working class in the public sector.
@article{polackorevisiting2025, title = {Revisiting the {{Sectoral Cleavage}} in {{Canada}}: {{Evidence From}} the {{Canadian Election Studies}}}, author = {Matthew Polacko and Peter Graefe and Simon Kiss}, doi = {10.1111/cars.70014}, year = {2025}, month = {aug} }
The Education And Income Voting Divides In Canada And Their Consequences For Redistributive Politics
Simon Kiss, Peter Graefe & Matt Polacko
Electoral Studies
Voting social democracy class Canada elections public opinion
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Profound changes in the nature of class cleavages in advanced capitalist economies have been documented in recent years. Some have posited that the increasingly educated nature of left electorates has weakened impulses for redistribution. In contrast to most advanced democracies, class voting has largely been neglected in Canada, as it has traditionally been viewed as being comparatively weak in the face of strong linguistic, regional, and religious identities. Using the entire series of the Canadian Election Study (1965–2019) we examine the education and income political divides in Canada. We find strong support for a divergence between the effect that income and education have on party voting, as people with high incomes continue to vote for the right, while people with higher levels of education have shifted significantly to the left. However, we also find a strengthening income cleavage, whereby lower-income individuals are increasingly supporting the social democratic New Democratic Party, with redistribution a key driver. The findings reveal that Canada, despite a strengthening class cleavage, largely fits the mould of a multi-elite party system. However, it does so in a distinct fashion from the party systems previously examined in the cleavage literature.
@article{kisseducation2023, title = {The {{Education And Income Voting Divides In Canada And Their Consequences For Redistributive Politics}}}, author = {Simon Kiss and Peter Graefe and Matt Polacko}, volume = {85}, doi = {10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102648}, year = {2023}, month = {oct} }
The Changing Nature of Class Voting in Canada, 1965–2019
Matthew Polacko, Simon Kiss & Peter Graefe
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique
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Much attention has been paid to the changing class cleavage that structured political conflict in the twentieth century. In contrast to most advanced democracies, class voting has traditionally been weak in Canada. Using the entire series of the Canadian Election Study (1965–2019), we find the historic pattern of working-class voting for the New Democratic Party (NDP) held outside of Quebec in recent elections, before suddenly falling off in 2019. Starting in 2004, we find a clear and distinct trend where the working class has increased its support for the Conservatives. Although greater partisan sorting is occurring over the economy, cultural issues such as moral traditionalism and anti-immigration are now significant drivers of working-class Conservative support. The findings carry important implications for class-party relationships and reveal that Canada, despite its comparatively weak nativist cleavage, is not immune from the tensions social democratic parties have recently experienced in maintaining cross-class coalitions amid socio-economic structural changes. , Résumé On a accordé beaucoup d'attention à l'évolution du clivage de classe qui a structuré les conflits politiques au cours du vingtième siècle. Contrairement à la plupart des démocraties avancées, le vote de classe a traditionnellement été faible au Canada. En utilisant la série complète de l'Étude sur l'élection canadienne (1965-2019), nous trouvons le modèle historique du vote de la classe ouvrière pour le NPD, qui s'est maintenu en dehors du Québec lors des dernières élections, avant de chuter soudainement en 2019. À partir de 2004, nous trouvons une tendance claire et distincte dans laquelle la classe ouvrière a augmenté son soutien aux conservateurs. Bien qu'un plus grand tri partisan se produise sur l'économie, les questions culturelles telles que le traditionalisme moral et l'anti-immigration sont maintenant des moteurs importants du soutien de la classe ouvrière au Parti conservateur. Les résultats ont des implications importantes pour les relations entre les classes et les partis et révèlent que le Canada, malgré son clivage nativiste relativement faible, n'est pas à l'abri des tensions que les partis sociaux-démocrates ont récemment connues pour maintenir des coalitions interclasses dans un contexte de changements structurels socio-économiques.
@article{polackochanging2022, title = {The {{Changing Nature}} of {{Class Voting}} in {{Canada}}, 1965–2019}, author = {Matthew Polacko and Simon Kiss and Peter Graefe}, volume = {55}, number = {3}, pages = {663--686}, doi = {10.1017/S0008423922000439}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/changing-nature-of-class-voting-in-canada-19652019/FA5E431D849C30B9E531EC046A6107B6}, year = {2022}, month = {sep}, note = {Last visited on 02/25/2025} }
Beyond Region and Ideology: Cultural Theory and Risk Perception in Canada
Simon Kiss, Erick Lachapelle & Eric Montpetit
Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique
Risk perception Canada public opinion
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Cultural theory (CT) has been widely used to explain variations in risk perception but has rarely been tested in Canada. This contribution represents the most thorough attempt to adapt CT to the Canadian context. Study results suggest that respondents’ commitment to egalitarianism was strongly correlated with risks from technology, while respondents’ commitment to hierarchism was strongly correlated with risks from criminal or unsafe behaviours. Respondents’ commitment to individualism was also correlated with risks from criminal and unsafe behaviours but differed from hierarchism in that individualism was not correlated with risk perceptions from prostitution and marijuana use. Respondents’ commitments to fatalism were strongly correlated with risk perception of vaccines. These conclusions are reinforced by results from a survey question that tests the extent to which such cultural predispositions map onto the myths of nature hypothesized by CT and by a survey experiment that tests how cultural commitments predict perceived risks from a controversial pipeline.
@article{kissregion2020, title = {Beyond {{Region}} and {{Ideology}}: {{Cultural Theory}} and {{Risk Perception}} in {{Canada}}}, author = {Simon Kiss and Erick Lachapelle and Eric Montpetit}, volume = {53}, number = {2}, doi = {doi:10.1017/S0008423920000177}, year = {2020}, month = {apr} }
Conservative Populism, or Unpopular Liberalism? Review of the 2018 Ontario Provincial Election
Andrea Perrella, Simon Kiss & Barry J. Kay
Canadian Political Science Review
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@article{perrellaconservative2020, title = {Conservative Populism, or Unpopular Liberalism? {{Review}} of the 2018 {{Ontario Provincial Election}}}, author = {Andrea Perrella and Simon Kiss and Barry J. Kay}, volume = {14}, number = {1}, pages = {118--146}, url = {http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/1790}, year = {2020}, month = {nov}, note = {Last visited on 02/22/2024} }
Opposition to Carbon Pricing and Right-Wing Populism: Ontario's 2018 General Election
Simon Kiss & Erick Lachapelle
Environmental Politics
risk perception carbon tax public opinion provincial politics
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risk perception, carbon tax, public opinion, provincial politics
@article{kissopposition2019a, title = {Opposition to {{Carbon Pricing}} and {{Right-Wing Populism}}: {{Ontario}}'s 2018 {{General Election}}}, author = {Simon Kiss and Erick Lachapelle}, doi = {10.1080/09644016.2019.1608659}, year = {2019}, month = {apr} }
The Ambiguous Definition of Open Government: Parliamentarians, Journalists and Bloggers Define Open Government In Accordance With Their Interests
George W. Wootten & Simon J. Kiss
Canadian Journal of Political Science
Public opinion government communications political communication political journalism
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We present the results of a 2014 survey of Canadian parliamentarians, journalists and bloggers in which respondents were asked to rank competing definitions of open government. Overall, respondents preferred to define open government in terms of access to information and sources. However, controlling for age, ideology and language, we also found that respondents in the different positions ranked definitions of open government differently. Journalists are more likely than any other group to define open government in terms of access to information and sources. In contrast, parliamentarians who were members of a governing party were as likely to choose definitions of open government that emphasized public participation as they were to choose definitions that emphasized access to information. Opposition parliamentarians share more similarities with government parliamentarians than with journalists. These results suggest that key actors in the Canadian policy landscape define open government in ways that are consistent with their institutional interests. We suggest that these results reflect ways in which open government operates more like a buzzword, which helps explain the common pattern whereby opposition parties make promises to be more open and, after taking power, operate in less open ways. Moreover, these results raise questions about the extent to which open government can actually operate as an organizing principle.
@article{woottenambiguous2019, title = {The {{Ambiguous Definition}} of {{Open Government}}: {{Parliamentarians}}, {{Journalists}} and {{Bloggers Define Open Government In Accordance With Their Interests}}}, author = {George W. Wootten and Simon J. Kiss}, volume = {52}, number = {3}, pages = {479--499}, doi = {10.1017/S0008423918000446}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0008423918000446/type/journal_article}, year = {2019}, month = {sep}, note = {Last visited on 02/06/2025} }
Balanced Journalism Amplifies Minority Voices: A Case Study of a Fluoridation Plebiscite
Simon Kiss, Karly Rath & Andrea Perrella
Canadian Journal of Communication
public opinion risk perception public health fluoridation
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public opinion, risk perception, public health, fluoridation
@article{kissbalanced2018a, title = {Balanced {{Journalism Amplifies Minority Voices}}: {{A Case Study}} of a {{Fluoridation Plebiscite}}}, author = {Simon Kiss and Karly Rath and Andrea Perrella}, volume = {43}, number = {4}, doi = {10.22230/cjc.2018v43n4a3355}, year = {2018}, month = {nov} }
Public Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in Canada: Corporate Ownership, Issue Familiarity, and Cultural Bias
Erick Lachapelle, Simon Kiss & Éric Montpetit
Extractive Industries and Society
risk perception public opinion
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risk perception, public opinion
@article{lachapellepublic2018a, title = {Public {{Perceptions}} of {{Hydraulic Fracturing}} ({{Fracking}}) in {{Canada}}: {{Corporate Ownership}}, {{Issue Familiarity}}, and {{Cultural Bias}}}, author = {Erick Lachapelle and Simon Kiss and {\a'E}ric Montpetit}, volume = {5}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1016/j.exis.2018.07.003}, year = {2018}, month = {sep} }
Triple Play: The Ontario 2014 General Election
Andrea ML Perrella, Simon Kiss & Barry J. Kay
Canadian Political Science Review
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@article{perrellatriple2017, title = {Triple {{Play}}: {{The Ontario}} 2014 {{General Election}}}, author = {Andrea ML Perrella and Simon Kiss and Barry J. Kay}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, pages = {157--181}, url = {http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/1461}, year = {2017}, note = {Last visited on 10/10/2024} }
Risk Perception, Psychological Heuristics and the Water Fluoridation Controversy
Andrea ML Perrella & Simon Kiss
Canadian Journal of Public Health
public opinion risk perception public health fluoridation
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public opinion, risk perception, public health, fluoridation
@article{perrellarisk2015, title = {Risk {{Perception}}, {{Psychological Heuristics}} and the {{Water Fluoridation Controversy}}}, author = {Andrea ML Perrella and Simon Kiss}, volume = {106}, number = {4}, pages = {e197-e203}, doi = {10.17269/cjph.106.4828}, year = {2015}, month = {may} }
How to Win and Lose an Election: Campaign Dynamics of the 2011 Ontario Election
Simon Kiss, Andrea Perrella & Barry Kay
Canadian Political Science Review
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@article{kisshow2014, title = {How to {{Win}} and {{Lose}} an {{Election}}: {{Campaign Dynamics}} of the 2011 {{Ontario Election}}}, author = {Simon Kiss and Andrea Perrella and Barry Kay}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, doi = {10.24124/c677/2014497}, year = {2014}, month = {aug} }
Responding to the 'New Public': The Arrival of Strategic Communications and Managed Participation in Alberta
Simon Kiss
Canadian Public Administration
political communication government communications provincial politics Alberta
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political communication, government communications, provincial politics, Alberta
@article{kissresponding2014a, title = {Responding to the '{{New Public}}': {{The Arrival}} of {{Strategic Communications}} and {{Managed Participation}} in {{Alberta}}}, author = {Simon Kiss}, volume = {57}, number = {1}, pages = {26--48}, doi = {10.1111/capa.12053}, year = {2014}, month = {mar} }
Legislation by Agenda-Setting: Assessing the Media's Role in the Regulation of Bisphenol A in the U.S. States
Simon Kiss
Mass Communication and Society
public opinion risk perception cultural theory political communication
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public opinion, risk perception, cultural theory,political communication
@article{kisslegislation2013a, title = {Legislation by {{Agenda-Setting}}: {{Assessing}} the {{Media}}'s {{Role}} in the {{Regulation}} of {{Bisphenol A}} in the {{U}}.{{S}}. {{States}}}, author = {Simon Kiss}, volume = {16}, number = {5}, pages = {687--712}, doi = {10.1080/15205436.2013.768345}, url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15205436.2013.768345}, year = {2013}, month = {sep}, note = {Last visited on 05/08/2020} }
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References

Kiss, Simon. 2013. “Legislation by Agenda-Setting: Assessing the Media’s Role in the Regulation of Bisphenol A in the U.S. States.” Mass Communication and Society 16 (5): 687–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2013.768345.
———. 2014. “Responding to the ’New Public’: The Arrival of Strategic Communications and Managed Participation in Alberta.” Canadian Public Administration 57 (1): 26–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12053.
Kiss, Simon, Peter Graefe, and Matt Polacko. 2023. “The Education And Income Voting Divides In Canada And Their Consequences For Redistributive Politics.” Electoral Studies 85 (October). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102648.
Kiss, Simon, and Erick Lachapelle. 2019. “Opposition to Carbon Pricing and Right-Wing Populism: Ontario’s 2018 General Election.” Environmental Politics, April. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2019.1608659.
Kiss, Simon, Erick Lachapelle, and Eric Montpetit. 2020. “Beyond Region and Ideology: Cultural Theory and Risk Perception in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique 53 (2). https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0008423920000177.
Kiss, Simon, Andrea Perrella, and Barry Kay. 2014. “How to Win and Lose an Election: Campaign Dynamics of the 2011 Ontario Election.” Canadian Political Science Review 8 (1). https://doi.org/10.24124/c677/2014497.
Kiss, Simon, Karly Rath, and Andrea Perrella. 2018. “Balanced Journalism Amplifies Minority Voices: A Case Study of a Fluoridation Plebiscite.” Canadian Journal of Communication 43 (4). https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2018v43n4a3355.
Lachapelle, Erick, Simon Kiss, and Éric Montpetit. 2018. “Public Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in Canada: Corporate Ownership, Issue Familiarity, and Cultural Bias.” Extractive Industries and Society 5 (4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2018.07.003.
Perrella, Andrea ML, and Simon Kiss. 2015. “Risk Perception, Psychological Heuristics and the Water Fluoridation Controversy.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 106 (4): e197–203. https://doi.org/10.17269/cjph.106.4828.
Perrella, Andrea ML, Simon Kiss, and Barry J. Kay. 2017. “Triple Play: The Ontario 2014 General Election.” Canadian Political Science Review 11 (1): 157–81. http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/1461.
Perrella, Andrea, Simon Kiss, and Barry J. Kay. 2020. “Conservative Populism, or Unpopular Liberalism? Review of the 2018 Ontario Provincial Election.” Canadian Political Science Review 14 (1): 118–46. http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/1790.
Polacko, Matthew, Peter Graefe, and Simon Kiss. 2025. “Revisiting the Sectoral Cleavage in Canada: Evidence From the Canadian Election Studies.” Canadian Review of Sociology = Revue Canadienne De Sociologie, August. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.70014.
Polacko, Matthew, Simon Kiss, and Peter Graefe. 2022. “The Changing Nature of Class Voting in Canada, 1965–2019.” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue Canadienne de Science Politique 55 (3): 663–86. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423922000439.
Wootten, George W., and Simon J. Kiss. 2019. “The Ambiguous Definition of Open Government: Parliamentarians, Journalists and Bloggers Define Open Government In Accordance With Their Interests.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 52 (3): 479–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423918000446.