Liberal Party organization and Manitoba's 1995 provincial election

dc.contributor.authorDrummond, Robert Andrewen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-12-03T21:17:09Z
dc.date.available2009-12-03T21:17:09Z
dc.date.issued1996en_US
dc.degree.disciplinePolitical Studiesen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts (M.A.)en_US
dc.description.abstractOnce considered almost extinct, the Liberal Party in Manitoba experienced a phenomenal breakthrough in 1988, yet in 1990 was unable to build on this success. In 1995 though, with a core of six seats in the legislature and a new leader, optimists in the party hoped for an electoral breakthrough. But in spite of its early high popularity in the polls, it suffered its worst defeat since 1986 and lost its official party status in the legislature. Analysis of this loss, using questionnaires and interviews, points to several organizational factors that contributed to the disappointing result. The party had serious internal problems, including inactive constituency associations and a weak executive. A rural-urban split is also still evident and while the party's structure emphasizes participatory democracy this is largely illusory. Because of the dominance of the urban wing, the provincial party also remained closely associated with the federal Liberals. This meant that, during the course of the campaign, provincial Liberals were seen as defending federal gun control policy. This had devastating effects on rural support. Technology also had a significant impact. The Liberal campaign attempted to supply each constituency association with a database program but this came to be regarded as a failure. The party's election readiness committee had notable success in fund-raising and candidate recruitment but otherwise failed to create a strong provincial campaign. An inadequate policy process, a disorganized leader's tour, inexperienced campaign personnel, poor organization, divisions within the party, and one way communication with constituency associations all plagued a poorly run central campaign. All things considered there were too many problems for the Liberal party to surmount during its thirty-five day ordeal.en_US
dc.format.extentiii, 126 leaves :en_US
dc.format.extent6576358 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier(Sirsi) AJK-9561en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/3689
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.rightsThe reproduction of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner.en_US
dc.titleLiberal Party organization and Manitoba's 1995 provincial electionen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobayesen_US
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