Partisan Reinforcement in Context and Cognition: Canadian Federal Partisanships, 1974-79

This paper investigates the structures and reinforcement of partisanships in Canada and proposes that political sophistication of the individual and the partisan context mediate the reinforcing effects of partisan consistency. Data from the 1974-79 Canadian National Election Panel Study reveal that political sophistication is related to identifications with more than one party and also that it weakens the reinforcing effects of provincial votes on federal partisanships. The reinforcement effects of provincial votes on federal partisanships varies with the level of similarity between the provincial and federal party systems. The paper concludes with implications for the study of partisan reinforcement in other contexts.