Description
Book SynopsisThe first systematic account of party activists at the provincial level in Canada.
Trade ReviewGrassroots Politicians is highly readable. And it is a book that provides terrific background for anyone who salivates at the prospect of following the intricate power plays so integral to the pageantry of a British Columbia election.
This timely book convincingly demonstrates that party activists have shaped the contours of BC's distinctively oddball politics. And
Grassroots Politicians provides a unique perspective from which to view the political battle lines that have so decisively shaped the province and that will help determine the outcome of the electoral warfare on the near horizon. -- David Mitchell * The Vancouver Sun *
A first-class scholarly study, by three accomplished political scientists, of party activists and activism in British Columbia. The first effort of its kind, this work is based on surveys, personal interviews with the politicians themselves, direct observation, and soundly rooted background analysis. -- P. Regenstreif * Choice *
Table of ContentsTables and Figures
Preface
1. The Polarization of BC Politics
2. Party Activists in British Columbia
3. Continuity and Change: Party Activists, 1973-87
4. Social Credit: Pragmatic Coalition or Ideological Right?
5. The New Democrats: What Kind of Left?
6. The Liberals: Centre or Fringe?
7. Leadership Selection in the BC Parties
8. The Social Credit Grassroots Recapture Their Party
9. Resisting Polarization: The Survival of the Liberals
10. Towards the Centre?: The Dynamics of Two-Party Competition
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
