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AbstractThis article explores contemporary political ideologies in English Canada, francophone Quebec and the United States using cross-national attitudinal survey data. Drawing central hypotheses from the qualitative Canadian-American political culture literature, the analysis focusses on three dimensions of political ideology—ideological polarization, the issue content of the respective lefts and rights, and ideological coherence. Evidence of distinctive national "lefts," together with fundamental similarities in the English-Canadian and American ideological "rights" and important differences in the ideological structures of the three political cultures, call into question some conventional generalizations found in the nonquantitative literature.

One of the most perplexing questions to students of politics since the mid-1950s has been whether western societies are now approaching, or have reached, a condition called "the end of ideology." Numerous answers have been propounded, both by those who regard such a development as desirable and by those who view it with disquietude. But difficulties have arisen because exponents of one view or the other have had recourse to markedly different, and often shifting, concepts of the terms "ideology" and "end." If this important controversy is to be saved from sterility, social scientists must both reflect more upon the nature of the terms employed and descend from the level of sweeping cultural generalizations to examine the condition of ideology in particular political settings.

A review essay on books by (1) C. A. Bowers, Mindful Conservatism: Rethinking the Ideological and Educational Basis of an Ecologically Sustainable Future (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003); & (2) William D. Sunderlin, Ideology, Social Theory, and the Environment (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).

A discussion of contemporary political ideologies in English Canada, francophone Quebec, & the US, using cross-national attitudinal survey data (N = 558, 221, & 364 Rs, respectively). Drawing central hypotheses from the qualitative Canadian-American political culture literature, analysis focuses on three dimensions of political ideology -- ideological polarization, the issue content of the respective Lefts & Rights, & ideological coherence. Evidence of distinctive national "Lefts," together with fundamental similarities in the English-Canadian & US ideological "Rights" & important differences in the ideological structures of the three political cultures, call into question some conventional generalizations found in the nonquantitative literature. 4 Tables, 2 Figures. HA

Compares English Canada, francophone Quebec, and the U.S.; based on conference paper.

In his magisterial general history, Spain 1808–1939, Raymond Carr concluded that the failure of modern constitutional liberalism in Spain was above all "a political failure," that is, more the consequence of political culture, status cleavages, and ideological divergence than the inevitable result of unadapted economic structures that could not support the formal political system. American reviewers such as Richard Herr and Gabriel Jackson were quick to take issue, arguing that political conflict in modern Spain had not been positively resolved because the economic structure had been too backward to permit it. They were obviously correct that the backwardness of the Spanish economy greatly hampered the civic processes of modern Spain—a point that Carr readily admitted in general. It is nonetheless largely true that modern Spanish politics have more often than not focused on issues of status and ideology rather than on specific conflicts over concrete economic issues.

Contemporary discussions of political forms exhibit a concern with constitutional procedures and values seldom encountered in the history of political thought. The search for a parallel development would require a turning to the classical period of Greek and Roman philosophy and politics. In the light of contemporary constitutional self-consciousness, as well as of the sustained inquiry of the ancient world into the various forms of polity, pure and degraded, ideal and historical, the political analyses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries assume the character of politico-ideological crystallizations of the breakdown of theancien regime. There are, of course, fundamental underlying differences between these three periods of political reflection. The ancient Greek analyses, although centering on Greek realities and problems, bear,prima facie, a style of detached theory intended to be taken as philosophy, no more, no less.