Change and Continuity in the Political Attitudes of Canadian University Students, 1986-2011

Change and Continuity in the Political Attitudes of Canadian University Students, 1986-2011

While Political Science is taught at nearly every university in Canada, little is known about the political attitudes of the Canadian students actually taking courses in the discipline. Beyond anecdotal evidence based largely on personal impressions, there has been no other indicator to gauge our students’ political dispositions and preferences, especially over an extended period of time. We shed some light on this issue by presenting the findings of a survey of first-year students taking an introductory course in Political Science at [name withheld for blind review]. Spanning over 25 years from 1986 to 2011, the survey and its findings provide a useful window into the evolving pattern of political attitudes among our first-year students, which include, among others: ideological inclinations, both self-identified and more objectively measured; party preferences; views on Quebec separatism; support for Canada’s international activism; attitudes toward the US; and assessment of international economic openness.