One of the more difficult topics for students to understand in their first few years in political science class is political parties in Canada. They often find themselves confused when we try to make a distinction between ideologies and parties. And, just to make things even more confusing, provincial parties and federal parties of the same name are often ideologically different.
In other words, despite having a similar name, federal and provincial Liberals and federal and provincial Conservatives are not generally the same party; their respective beliefs are not only ideologically different but they also reflect different political cultures.
Ideology is a word we use to describe the way in which people see the world. It creates a "worldview." It is not an opinion. It is like a framework through which individuals can make sense of the relationship among the state, the society and the individual. We can usually identify an ideology when we see "ism" in a word: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, communism, environmentalism, etc. Ideologies appear when new ideas about the role of institutions emerge and are accepted by large numbers of people.
Liberalism, for example, developed from the ideas of John Locke (1632-1704), among others. This ideology started out as a way to think about the relationship between the individual and the state. In Locke's view, the state should act as a referee in issues concerning private property. In fact, the idea was not really about democratization but rather about property owners having some protection from the state and from other property owners. In this view, equality exists when we are all equal under the law. We call this ideology, "classical liberalism."
Today we can see this ideology represented on a spectrum of what we might call "right wing" parties. Although there are distinct differences between political parties, classical liberalism appears in the ideas of the B.C. Conservative Party and the Federal Conservative Party, as well as the Republican Party in the United States.
In the case of the B.C. Conservatives, we see this articulate clearly in the "Guiding Principles of the British Columbia Conservatives." Number 8 on their list reads, "A belief in the principle of equality of opportunity for all British Columbians, with special privileges for none. This principle includes the protection of private property, the freedom of the individual, and freedom of speech, worship and lawful assembly."
The Federal Conservatives express this belief in classical liberalism when they assert in their constitution under the section entitled "Principles," "A belief that the best guarantors of the prosperity and well-being of the People of Canada are: the freedom of individual Canadians to pursue their enlightened and legitimate self-interest within a competitive economy; the freedom of individual Canadians to enjoy the fruits of their labour to the greatest possible extent; the right to own property."
Yet, without doubt, ideology is not without politics and the federal Conservatives do not follow the ideology without recognition of the complexity of governing a diverse country. There is always political compromise that is required. More confusion arises because they use the term 'conservative" in their name. They say on their website that they are Canada's founding party but the conservatism of the Conservative Party of Canada is very different from the conservatism of 1867 when the party was known as the Liberal-Conservative Party. The conservative element was actually British conservatism, which holds that elites and tradition need to be a firm part of the governing order.
Canadians used to refer to this kind of conservatism as Red Toryism. When the former Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance, the new party did not embrace the tradition of elite governance. The Conservative Party, as it came to be known, drew on the political culture of western Canada and ideas of the Reform Party. Their world view tends toward the belief in small government and even a distrust in political elites. Their "conservatism" tends to be linked to social conservatism and a trust in traditional values. Understanding the characteristics of particular ideologies can help to disentangle the confusion over party names.
In my next column, I will try to disentangle the ideology and politics of political parties that use the name "Liberal."
