Canada is a country that has long been in the shadows of its former settlers; the British. The country set up similar political systems, had a similar way of life and even worshiped the British royalty. As time went on and Canada separated themselves from the British, our neighbour to the south became our new influencer. We share similar cultural habits, beliefs etc. but where we stand on a political basis? What is a political culture, and what kind of culture does Canada have? Some may argue that Canada is just a northern part of the USA as far as way of life is concerned, but is that entirely true?
The Canadian Political Landscape
In order to understand the political atmosphere in Canada, one must first understand what it is that makes a political culture. According to in-class slides provided by Professor Leslie Wee,a political culture is “the sum total of the political values, beliefs, attitudes, and orientations in a society” (Wee, Chapter 9). Or in other words, what a specific society believes in, or does not believe in. This set of factors creates specific environments that in some way or form affect the political undertakings of any given country. There are two main aspects to which political culture can affect said undertakings. The first is how the citizens feel about the political community as a whole, and the second is how they feel about the current government. Combined, these tend to dictate how the political environment will be (ie. the government in power).
Almond and Verba went further into the study of political culture, and ultimately believe that political culture can be divided into three types: Parochial, Subject, and Participant political cultures. In a Parochial political culture, citizens are uninformed and take little interest in the affairs of the political environment. Subject political cultures serve as a sort of middle ground in the respect that citizens tend to be somewhat informed and occasionally participate. The third culture, a Participant culture, is undoubtedly the most efficient. This type of culture has citizens who are well informed, and actively participate in the political processes of their society (Wee, Chapter 9). In a demographic society such as a Canada, informed voters are most important as they are sure to make well thought out decisions in the voting process, ultimately affecting how the country runs, and who will run it.
The importance of a participant culture cannot be understated when it comes to the political culture that Canada has. It is a country that prides itself on its use of the democratic system, and for such a system to run efficiently, the people who are voting need to be informed. Canadian political culture can be broken down into layers; the first of which can be seen throughout the entire nation. Canadians are a people who believe firmly in the voting process; yet tend to stay away from many other political processes. “It has been suggested that this ‘spectator-participant’ characteristic reveals a unique feature of the Canadian political culture” (Zussman, 2013). This in itself is a characteristic that is relatively unique to Canada. The second layer of Canadian political culture contains the citizen’s complete faith in the system to solve issues within the country (ie. Government intervention). The third and final layer is something that varies from location to location. Each region has its own, slightly differing set of belief, for example the French vs English speaking regions of Canada. However, one thing remains constant about Canada’s political culture nation-wide; it’s pride in being “anti-American” in its culture, that is to say, we’re proud to be who we are and not American.
Canada vs USA
The political culture in Canada is different from that in the USA in a number of ways. Canadians for one believe in the common good, or the greatest good for the greatest amount of people (communitarianism); whereas the USA is more of an Individualistic society. Canadians place a high value on social equity and are more accepting of cultural differences, the USA however, believes in ‘becoming American’ or taking away people from their cultural beliefs and assimilating them into the American way of life (Wee, Chapter 9). Lastly, Canadians have more faith in the system: they believe in their government, and trust that they will do good for the society and in turn, are more cautious with their voting, research etc.
The USA on the other hand, tends to be more adventurous or rather, reckless with their voting. They don’t necessarily believe in the system, and are more fearful of authorities (ie. Police). Despite a large number of differences between the Canadian and American political cultures, many people believe that Canada is becoming increasingly Americanized. PNL states that Canadian institutions have been shaped to resemble, or even become those of the USA (supreme court, senate, etc.). He also points out that Canada has adopted the American practice of selecting the heads of a given party through a large convention type environment. Perhaps the most convincing piece of evidence to suggest that Canada is indeed becoming Americanized is the fact that many Canadians follow and believe in the American political process. Our news sources talk about it, our celebrities talk about it, and most importantly, the Canadian public talks about it.
The concern here is that more people are educated and participate in the American system than they are of their own Canadian system (PNL, 2008). The main counter argument to the Americanization of Canada’s political culture stems from the fact that while Canada modeled itself after Britain, the USA did not. Which in turn set the two countries on very different paths and ultimately led to the two very ‘distinct’ political cultures we see today (Adams, 2008). However true the claim may have been initially, evidence that Canada is becoming Americanized holds strong.
Canada is a country who participates actively in their political environment. Their set of beliefs, values and attitudes have created an environment that respects democracy, fights for the rights of the people, believes in their system and perhaps most importantly, see themselves as a country who is NOT the USA. The participant culture that they have has allowed the country to take steps in identifying themselves on a global basis, but despite this, the country continues to becoming more Americanized. I personally believe that while Canada is currently a unique political environment, it will continue to slowly become more and more like the American system. We have already modeled so much of our system after the USA, and nothing seems to suggest that we won’t continue to do that in the future. As our closest ally, and our largest trading partner, the USA will continue to slowly Americanize the Canadian political culture.
What do you think about where Canada stands as a nation? Will the USA continue to influence our politcal environment? Feel free to leave a comment below :)
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Sources: 1, 2, 3 And a special thanks to my old Professor, Mr. Leslie Wee for his insights.