The theory of democratic elitism revisited: A response to Vengroff and Morton

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 569-586

  Sniderman, Paul M ^a   Fletcher, Joseph F ^b   Russell, Peter H ^b   Tetlock, Philip E ^c   Prior, Markus ^a  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

^c OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0034554248     PISSN: 00084239     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0008423900000202     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. Paul M. Sniderman, Joseph Fletcher, Peter Russell and Philip E. Tetlock, The Clash of Rights (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996).
2. Richard Vengroff and F. L. Morton, "Regional Perspectives in Canada's Charter and Freedoms: A Re-examination of Democratic Elitism," this JOURNAL 33 (2000), 359-82.
3. Len Scher, The Un-Canadians: True Stories of the Blacklist Era. (Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1992).
4. Stouffer's elite sample was actually quite heterogeneous, and included many from nonpolitical groups, such as the media and civic voluntary organizations, as have been some of McClosky's elite samples (Samuel Stouffer, Communism, Conformity, and Civil Liberties [Garden City: Doubleday, 1955]; and Herbert McClosky and Alida Brill, Dimensions of Tolerance [New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1983]). The Charter Project sample was specifically designed to examine variability across elite groups, and thus includes subsamples of lawyers and government officials. Since both the analytic problem and the explanatory account hinge on the dynamics of the party system, we focus on the responses of partisan elites.
5. Stouffer's elite sample was actually quite heterogeneous, and included many from nonpolitical groups, such as the media and civic voluntary organizations, as have been some of McClosky's elite samples (Samuel Stouffer, Communism, Conformity, and Civil Liberties [Garden City: Doubleday, 1955]; and Herbert McClosky and Alida Brill, Dimensions of Tolerance [New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1983]). The Charter Project sample was specifically designed to examine variability across elite groups, and thus includes subsamples of lawyers and government officials. Since both the analytic problem and the explanatory account hinge on the dynamics of the party system, we focus on the responses of partisan elites.
6. As Stouffer first showed, and every subsequent study has reconfirmed, there is consensual, indeed very nearly unanimous support, among both elites and the public at large, when democratic rights are framed in the abstract.
7. Herbert McClosky, "Consensus and Ideology in American Politics," American Political Science Review 58 (1964), 374.
8. Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969). At a philosophical level, this notion of liberty has, of course, been criticized by C. B. Macpherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973).
9. Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969). At a philosophical level, this notion of liberty has, of course, been criticized by C. B. Macpherson, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973).
10. It is precisely this requirement that leads McClosky operationally to define consensus as agreement by at least 75 per cent. See McClosky, "Consensus and Ideology," 363.
11. Ibid., 374.
12. See Sniderman et al, The Clash of Rights, Figure 2.13, 50.
13. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
14. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
15. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
16. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
17. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
18. The literature on region in Canada is prodigious, William P. Irvine, "Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis," this JOURNAL 4 (1971), 21-24; Donald E. Blake, "The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns," this JOURNAL 5 (1972), 54-81; Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, "Regional Political Cultures in Canada," this JOURNAL 7 (1974), 397-437; Donald E. Blake, "Constituency Contexts and Canadian Elections: An Exploratory Study," this JOURNAL 11 (1978), 279-305; Mildred Schwartz, Politics and Territory (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974); and Elisabeth Gidengil, André Biais, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte, "Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside of Quebec," this JOURNAL (1999), 247-72.
19. For a recent round of analytic fisticuffs on the validity of the Inglehart measure, see Darren W. Davis and Christian Davenport, "Assessing the Validity of the Postmaterialism Index," American Political Science Review 93 (1999), 649-64; and Ronald Inglehart and Paul R. Abramson, "Measuring Postmaterialism," American Political Science Review 93 (1999), 665-78.
20. For a recent round of analytic fisticuffs on the validity of the Inglehart measure, see Darren W. Davis and Christian Davenport, "Assessing the Validity of the Postmaterialism Index," American Political Science Review 93 (1999), 649-64; and Ronald Inglehart and Paul R. Abramson, "Measuring Postmaterialism," American Political Science Review 93 (1999), 665-78.
21. We say at least three, because in addition to a trio of substantive points there are a number of methodological ones. For example, one of the measures that Vengroff and Morton employ is a measure of strength of opinion on the government services item. Its presence here is perplexing, since it is not a measure of substantive opinion at all: it only indexes the strength of opinion after the direction of opinion has been established. Under no construction can it be, analyzed by itself, a measure of support for democratic values.
22. Paul M. Sniderman, Joseph F. Fletcher, Peter H. Russell and Philip E. Tetlock, "Political Culture and the Problem of Double Standards: Mass and Elite Attitudes toward Language Rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," this JOURNAL 22 (1989), 259-84.
23. For a parallel argument on the politicization of the concept of prejudice, see Philip E. Tetlock, "Political Psychology or Politicized Psychology: Is the Road to Scientific Hell Paved with Good Moral Intentions?" Political Psychology 15 (1994), 509-30; "A Value Pluralism Model of Ideological Reasoning," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences 50 (1986), 819-27; and Paul M. Sniderman and Philip E. Tetlock, "Symbolic Racism: Problems of Motive Attribution in Political Analysis, " Journal of Social Issues 42 (1986), 129-50.
24. For a parallel argument on the politicization of the concept of prejudice, see Philip E. Tetlock, "Political Psychology or Politicized Psychology: Is the Road to Scientific Hell Paved with Good Moral Intentions?" Political Psychology 15 (1994), 509-30; "A Value Pluralism Model of Ideological Reasoning," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences 50 (1986), 819-27; and Paul M. Sniderman and Philip E. Tetlock, "Symbolic Racism: Problems of Motive Attribution in Political Analysis, " Journal of Social Issues 42 (1986), 129-50.
25. For a parallel argument on the politicization of the concept of prejudice, see Philip E. Tetlock, "Political Psychology or Politicized Psychology: Is the Road to Scientific Hell Paved with Good Moral Intentions?" Political Psychology 15 (1994), 509-30; "A Value Pluralism Model of Ideological Reasoning," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences 50 (1986), 819-27; and Paul M. Sniderman and Philip E. Tetlock, "Symbolic Racism: Problems of Motive Attribution in Political Analysis, " Journal of Social Issues 42 (1986), 129-50.
26. Vengroff and Morton, when reporting their results, do not present the actual coefficients, but count the number of times observed differences associated with region or party are statistically significant, relying on asterisks to signal p values. This is not an acceptable practice because it confuses assessing statistical significance with assessing the strength of a variable's effect. It also, regrettably, makes it impossible to replicate their results.
27. Sniderman et al., The Clash of Rights, 278.
28. See ibid., figure 2.2, 22.
29. McClosky and Brill, Dimensions of Tolerance, 393-94.
30. Their operational criterion is 60 per cent.
31. Ibid., 393.
32. Simon Jackman and Paul M. Sniderman, "Institutional Organization of Choice Spaces: A Political Conception of Political Psychology," unpublished article, 1999, provide a detailed theoretical argument for both premises.