Political Culture: Is there a distinct Canadian Political Culture?
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Despite the modern processes of globalization and international trade, Canadian
political culture does not assimilate with those of its neighbors or any other political
community. Even though Canada is often associated with American and is sometimes
thought to be a direct ancestor of the British, it has its own distinct political culture.
The major aim of this research paper is to show that political culture of Canada is
distinct and there are a number of facts to prove this fact. The first and foremost
distinct feature of political culture of the country is the desire of its citizens to be
distinct which is noticeable through the processes of political socialization, the major
agents of which are school, family, peers, mass media, and even government itself.
Canada is one of the major multinational countries of the world. Its population is
comprised of the French, the Russians, the Chinese, the English, and the Americans
among the others (Dyck, 2011; Bickerton and Gagnon, 2009). Despite the presence of
so many ethnicities and the diversity of cultures in the country, its distinctiveness can
be clearly defined. A set of differences in terms of cultural values, political
movements, social trends make Canada a distinctive nation among many other
peoples. Uniqueness of cultural values and beliefs of the country has found their
description and defense in the work of many political, social, anthropological, cultural
and other leaders. Bickerton and Gagnon (2009) clearly note that multiculturalism
doubled with issues of women, sexual minorities, disabled people and others have
never threatened unity of this nation.
Even though the term ‘political culture’ is rather new one, the meaning or the concept
and its application dates back to the times of Plato and Aristotle, when political
culture was viewed as way of life of a particular polity or political community
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(Wiseman, 2007). In order to understand and/or analyze political culture of Canada, it
is important to study country’s history first, as it explains many nuances which will be
unclear otherwise (Brooks, 2009; Dyck, 2009; Wiseman, 2007).
The notion of political culture is closely related to the notion of ‘political community’
which can be defined as “shared sense of belonging to a country whose national
integrity is worth preserving” (Brooks, 2009: 47). It is some notion which can be
found in-between nationalism and patriotism. Therefore, political identity is a
synonym to national identity of the country. However, as Brooks (2009) notes,
Canadians’ sense of community is very delicate due to various historically set tensions
that might still exist among different ethnicities residing in Canada.
Furthermore, another important notion which pertains to political culture is political
socialization of the country. It can be defined as a social process which is a medium in
individuals’ practice of acquiring “political values, attitudes, information, and
options” (Dyck, 2009: 142). Canadian political socialization is currently undergoing
some changes that is already a sign of the nation’s distinctiveness from the other
nations’ politics. There are several agents of political socializations, namely, school,
family, peers, mass media, and, finally, government (Dyck, 2009).
Many studies have been devoted to the study of the Canadian political culture. Some
of the studies focus on particular regions like political culture of Quebec or political
culture of Manitoba, etc. Thus, French-speaking part of the nation was considered to
be more traditionally religious than the citizens of the USA (Brooks, 2009). Some
scholars try to cover all those cultures in their study analyzing and comparing them
altogether. Politics cannot exist without culture, its values, heritage and background of
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the people making up a nation. Thus, Francophone and Anglophone ethnicities of
Canada have a long history of rather peaceful negotiations which prevented them from
critical national conflicts within the state.
Also, culture and politics coexist with human history and particularly with the history
of a specific nation. Politics is being built on both similarities and differences of the
peoples who are one nation. Therefore, it is important to study political culture of a
nation or a country. The aim of this paper is to analyze some of the issues that arise in
the studies dealing with Canadian political culture.
According to Wiseman (2007), there are a number of paths which can be taken while
searching for Canadian political culture. Many approaches, interpretations and
theories come into place while studying this complex issue connected with national
identity. However, all these aspects of the study are equal in terms of their ideas and
limitations. Wiseman (2007) divides them into four broad rubrics: probing history,
surveying values, examining constitutions and institutions, and political socialization
(pp. 17-19). Thus, in this study the author uses various approaches in order not to lose
any distinct feature of Canadian political culture.
Comparisons of different aspects of life of two countries, Canada and America, have
been seen over a long period of time. Even though, Canada has often been identified
with America, the nation has defended its cultural and social distinctiveness from the
American nation. According to Brooks (2009), the major differences between these
two nations are: 1) Canadian society is more organized and less individualistic than
that of the USA; 2) the state is expected to “promote the welfare of the society and the
development of an independent Canada” (p. 45). Besides Americans, Canadians have
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felt a strong bond with the British. Therefore, Canadian nation was like between two
fires or two rivers, American nation on the one side and British nation, on the other.
However, in terms of cultural heritage and values, Canadians associated themselves
more with the English rather than with the Americans (Brooks, 2009). Besides, even
today, as Dyck (2011) notes, the desire of Canadians to remain distinct is very strong.
Both American and Canadian society is characterized by the idea of multiculturalism.
Nevertheless, Wiseman (2007) asserts that even two societies have many similarities
while speaking about their origin, there is a great tendency of their ideological
differences to narrow down (p. 25). Therefore, when we wish to find distinctiveness in
political culture, it is important to take into consideration ideological distinctiveness of
the society. Multiculturalism is also an explanation to Canadian politics being multifaceted. Wiseman (2007) lists several waves of immigration to Canada that greatly
influenced national make-up of Canada as well as contributed to the directions
Canadian political culture took.
It is worth stating that analyzing political culture of Canada should be realized from
the perspective of ideological multiculturalism taking into consideration changeable
nature of socio-cultural values under the influence of several waves of immigration.
This is because experiences and ideas of immigrants have impacted the way Canadian
society has been developing and emerging. Thus, each province bears distinct features
of the immigrants it is comprised of. This in turn, contributes to distinctiveness of the
whole Canadian political culture.
Many scholars as well as Canadians themselves identify Canadian people with the
British, or at least claim to have many similarities with these people. However, during
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the last decades Canadian society has been acting and thinking differently from both
the British and the Americans. In comparison with America, Canada seems to be more
even-temperate, reasonable, and, at the same time, tolerant nation. Besides, it is not
only Canadians who think of themselves so. Because of tight interdependence of
Canada and the USA in terms of economical and cultural relations, the desire of the
Canadians to prove their distinctiveness from the Americans has become an obsessive
issue.
“Canadian Political Culture” by Brooks presents political culture in Canada from
several perspectives, namely, freedom, equality, community and outlooks on the state.
One of the major ideas related to political culture the researcher points out is both the
differences and similarities of English- and French-speaking Canadians (Brooks,
2009: 46).
Therefore, Brooks (2009) draws reader’s attention to the fact that French-speaking
Quebec has never identified the history and cultural heritage nation with America.
This has lead to the rise of nationalism especially among the residents of Quebec.
However, these issues are perceived and dealt with more on the national rather than
international level. Even though province of Quebec plays very important role in the
political culture of Canada and makes its contribution into the fact that it is distinct, it
is not, however, the main feature of distinctiveness one would stress.
Despite the fact that there are many cultural preferences, political culture of the
country is multi-faceted (Wiseman, 2007). This is why there is a great number of
various approaches, theories, and strategies of studying political culture of the country
and singling out its distinct features. Values of Canadian political culture are to be
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viewed through historical perspective, because different ideologies, events,
movements, as well as waves of immigration have helped to shape socio-cultural
aspects of every region of the country. Therefore, analysis and interpretation of
Canadian political culture results from the synthesis of various approaches and
strategies of scientific research. Brooks (2009) notes that obsessive urge to define
distinct features of political cultures by Canadians is actually the key feature of
Canadian identity. According to Dyck (2009), despite the modern processes of
globalization and international trade, Canada remains to be socially, culturally as well
as politically distinct country. Moreover, there are several features which prove
distinctiveness of Canadian political culture.
To conclude, it is worth noting that Canadian political culture is really distinct from
any other existing political culture. Moreover, one of the major signs of the
distinctiveness is the urge of Canadians themselves to find distinct features of their
political culture and their desire to be such in spite of the modern processes of
globalization and international trade. Furthermore, despite the fact that both American
and Canadian nations are interchangeable called a melting pot, there are many sociocultural and political differences between these two countries, which again proves
distinctiveness of Canadian political culture as well. Moreover, Canadians are more
tolerant than Americans (Brooks, 2009). In order to better understand political culture
of Canadians it is important to look at the changes society has underwent starting from
the first settlement and up to nowadays state. Finally, Americans are argued to have
more in common with the Europeans (the British and the French) rather than with
Americans.
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References
Brooks, Septhen. 2009. “Canadian Political Culture,” Canadian Politics, Fifth
Edition, edited by James Bickeerton and Alain-G. Gagnon, 45-70. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press Incorporated.
Dyck, Rand. 2009. Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches. 5th ed. Toronto:
Thomson Nelson.
Wiseman, Nelson 2007. In the Search of Canadian Political Culture. VancouverToronto: The University of British Columbia.