Abstract
This article employs 1965 and 1979 survey data in an analysis of two specific questions. First, to what extent did a historical alliance between feminism and the Liberal Party affect party identification in Quebec, particularly among women voters who came of age politically during the suffragist period? Second, how have more recent processes of social change that are broadly associated with Quebec's “Quiet Revolution” influenced partisanship, and especially Parti québécois support, among newer female cohorts? It was found that identification with the Liberals remains strong among women who formally entered the electorate during the height of suffragist activism in Quebec, and that substantial gender differences in party identification exist among younger respondents in the contemporary period. Overall, this study suggests that the treatment of women by political parties may be an important determinant of female attitudes in Canada as well as in other Western democracies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
