Down with the Senate? Understanding Support for the Abolition of the Senate in Canada

ABSTRACT

Various governments have debated the question of whether the Canadian Senate should be abolished or reformed since 1980, yet a solution has still not been found. While some advocate for a substantial reform of the institution, others propose to get rid of it completely. Drawing from the 2021 Canadian Election Study, this article explores the underlying value systems that shape opinions on the abolition of the Canadian Senate. The findings suggest that support for the abolition of the Canadian Senate should be understood as part of a set of populist attitudes, the extent of political interest, political knowledge, and party identification.

KEYWORDS:

• Public opinion
• Canadian Senate
• populism
• party identification
• political sophistication

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the valuable input of Catherine Ouellet, Nick Ruderman, the great people of the 2021 Western Political Science Association Conference, panel 21.01, and our colleagues at the 2022 Canadian Political Science Association Conference, panel A03. The authors would also like to thank the reviewers and the editor of the review whose work improved the present research.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that they have no material or financial interests that relate to the present research.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.