Citizens and Community
Political Support in a Representative Democracy

This book addresses political legitimacy and system support in one democracy, Canada.

Allan Kornberg (Author), Harold D. Clarke (Author)

9780521208321, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 March 2011

304 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

Review of the hardback: 'The book provides interesting information on an important political problem.' Administrative Sciences

The related subjects of political legitimacy and system support are key theoretical concerns of students of democratic societies. They have received very little scholarly attention, however, because of the conceptual and methodological complexities they engender. In this book the authors address these concerns through systematic multivariate analyses of the sources, distribution, and consequences of variations in citizen support for key political objects in one such society, Canada. Although the authors do so within a comparative context, their primary focus is on Canada because it is one of the world's oldest democracies and is a country that has experienced support problems that periodically have reached crisis proportion. Many of the problems facing Canada are more extreme examples of difficulties that have vexed other democracies. This study helps illuminate both the conditions under which democracies in general are able to sustain themselves and those under which they could flounder.

List of tables and figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The problem of political support
2. Economy, society, self
3. Democracy, political system, self
4. Political support and its correlates
5. Regional disaffection: Quebec and the West
6. Elections and political support
7. Causes and consequences of political support
8. Political support in representative democracies
Appendix
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV]