Public reformist attitudes towards urban development in Winnipeg

Abstract

The basic purpose of this research is to determine, empirically, the extent to which Winnipeggers hold "reformist' attitudes towards "urban development". In doing so some evidence will be provided about the basic ideas and ideals of contemporary urban reformers (as defined below) at least as they apply in one setting. Secondary purposes of this research are to determine how consistent Winnipeggers are in holding these views; the degree to which their views vary in terms of their basic social and demographic characteristics; and the degree to which their views correlate with their politica1 knowledge and voting behavior. The problem confronted by this research is that the literature provides few, if any, attempts to determine what the basic tenets of reformism are, to show the degree to which public officials and/or the general public hold such views, or the degree to which their political behavior might be affected by such views. Since the reformers expect and encourage citizen activity (such as electing reform candidates), a crucial question is the degree to which the public holds reformist views, and/or is amenable to understanding and acting on reform ideas. This thesis attempts to address this inadequacy in order to advance the understanding of contemporary urban reform in Canada as an important political phenomenon. Concomitantly, it contributes to the development of political methodology by the creation and testing of a "reformist" attitude scale, by the application of particular survey research methods, and by the use of only-recently available computer programmes.