Politics and Ideology in Canada: Elite and Public Opinion in the Transformation of the Welfare State

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

The central thesis of Politics and Ideology in Canada is that Canada is
both a country of elites and a class-based society. The book, which is
based on survey research and an analysis of theoretical studies,
presents some noteworthy findings, including a tremendous dislike of
party politics (no wonder the Reform Party was originally seen as a
protest movement) and support for the welfare state. In addition to a
valuable introduction, the book contains three useful appendixes, an
extensive list of references, and an index.

Ornstein and Stevenson have produced a very good piece of
scholarship—one that, like the late John Porter’s The Vertical
Mosaic, will be widely quoted, in both positive and negative terms, for
some time to come. It will be of particular interest to students of
politics and as Canadian studies.