Liberal party activists in British Columbia

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the nature and role of Liberal Party activists in the political life of British Columbia. As activists are at the central core of political parties, describing these activists is essential for understanding parties and the political process in general. The description and analysis are based on the results of a survey of the 1987 Liberal leadership Convention conducted by several members of the Political Science Department at the University of British Columbia, including the author. The resulting information was collated and analyzed then compared with the accepted wisdom concerning Liberal supporters in British Columbia. This thesis reveals the Liberal Party activists in British Columbia to be quite typical of activists found in other parties in Canada. As a result of the party's centre position in the polarized politics of this province, it does tend to attract activists disenchanted with this style of politics. This results in a heterogeneous collection of beliefs amongst activists. The success of the federal Liberal Party and the importance of many federal issues for Liberal Party sympathizers encourages provincial activists to adopt a federal oriented perspective on politics. This is at odds with the two major parties in British Columbia.