Canadians' responses to aboriginal issues: the roles of prejudice, perceived group conflict and economic conservatism

Dane cette communication, les auteurs se servent de trois mesures des préférences en matière de politique gouvernementale pour déterminer les effets des préjugés, de l'ethnocentrisme, du conservatisme éonomique, des perceptions de conflits d'inérêts entre groupes et de l'appréhension d'une menace contre les intérêts personnels Bur lee attitudea des Canadiens à l'égard des autochtones. Lee trois variables dépendantes sont: l'appui à l'autonomie politique, l'appui au statut particulier et le degré de priorité accordé aux préoccupations des autochtones. Lee données d'un éhantillon national aléatoire (N= 1834) ont été analysées à l'aide de régressions multiples et de techniques LISREL. Les principales conclusions sont les suivantes: 1/la variation dans lee réactions des non-autochtones aux préoccupations des autochtones s'explique en grande partie par trois facteurs — les préjugés, le conservatisme économique et la perception d'un conflit d'intérêts de groupe; 2/ les préjugés et la perception d'un conflit d'intérêts se combinent et influent fortement sur les réactions des Canadiens non autochtones; 3/ l'influence de l'ethnocentrisme est tout au plus mineure; 4/ lea indicateurs objectifs (région, situation socio-économique familiale et âge) employés comme mesures indirectee du sentiment que les intérêts personnels sont menacés ont une influence somme toute mineure sur la réaction aux préoccupations des autochtones de la part des Canadiens. La communication se termine par une réflexion sur lee leçons que les dirigeants politiques des autochtones pourraient tirer de l'étude. This paper examines the effects of prejudice, ethnocentrism, economic conservatism, perceived conflict of group interests and perceived personal threat in shaping Canadians' views on three different measures of preferences for government policy in the aboriginal affairs field. Those dependent variables are: support for self-government, support for special status, and level of priority attached to Native issues. Multiple regression analysis and LISREL techniques are applied to data from a 1986 national random sample (N= 1834). The main findings are that: 1/ a moderate to large proportion of the variation in non-aboriginal responses to aboriginal issues can be explained by three factors -prejudice, economic conservatism, and perceived conflict of group interests; 2/ prejudice and perceived conflict interact strongly in influencing non-aboriginal Canadians' responses; 3/ ethnocentrism has a negligible to minor influence; and 4/ objective indicators (region, family SES and age) serving as proxies for perceived personal threat have only minor net effects on how Canadians respond to aboriginal issues. The paper concludes with comments on the relevance of the findings for aboriginal political leaders.     

Adult Perspectives on Children's Autonomy

A representative sample of 1,002 Los Angeles adults respondedto vignettes on parent-child conflict by indicating their supportfor the position of either the parent or the child. Adults'perspectives on children's rights to autonomy were examinedin the nine substantive areas of education, privacy, appearance,religion, economics, sexual conduct, access to media, politicalparticipation and public responsibility, and social participation.In all these areas, there is a lack of consensus about children'srights among adults. Social characteristics of the sample, however,correlate with views on this issue in ways consistent with ageneral liberal-conservative orientation.     

Candidate Evaluations by Men and Women

A widely accepted generalization in the social science literatureis that women tend to personalize politics and politicians.The purpose of this article is twofold. The first is to determinewhether an analysis of the available U.S. survey data from 1952to 1976 tends to support the claims made about how women differfrom men in their assessments of politicians. The second isto suggest alternative and more precise ways of conceptualizingboth men's and women's responsesto and evaluation of politicalleaders.     

The Polls: America's Most Important Problems Part I: National and International

Researchers who use surveys and long psychological instrumentsassume that response sets are constant over time. Data fromthree studies are presented that challenge this assumption.Questionnaires of different response formats, subjects, andtopics were used. Correlations of the response sets across adjacenttime periods formed a simplex, suggesting that the responsesets across adjacent time periods were more similar than theresponse sets across distant time periods. The implicationsof the instability of response sets for the interpretation ofsocial science findings obtained with long instruments are explored.     

Urban Natives and the Nation: Before and After the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples*

Cet article étudie la relation entre la formation de L'État canadien et la construction des identités amérindiennes, au moyen de la fonction légitimante des commissions d'enquête, pour la période allant de la Loi constitutionnelle, 1982 au rapport de la Commission royale sur les peuples autochtones en 1996. Nous examinons, en particulier, dans quelle mesure le rapport de la CRPA « normalise » des narratifs de politique amérindienne déjà présents, les stabilisant en une hiérarchie rigide de revendications qui s'appuie sur le modèle de la nation. L'analyse se concentre sur le positionnement problématique des Amérindiens urbains et des Indiens sans statut face à la « nation », ce qui mène à leur marginalisation dans les débats politiques actuels. This paper examines the relationship between Canadian state formation and the construction of Aboriginal identities via the legitimating function of the public inquiry, for the period from the adoption of the Constitution Act, 1982 to the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996). Specifically, we examine the extent to which the RCAP Report “normalizes” pre‐existing narratives regarding Aboriginal politics into a rigid hierarchy of claims privileging the nation model and those Aboriginals with a land base. We argue that the nation model is reinforced, legitimized and publicized through the RCAP Report's function as a legitimating tool of the state.     

LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE WORLD WAR II

Analysis of 455 survey trends during the post–World WarII period shows that America has generally moved in a liberaldirection. The growth of liberalism has not been uniform acrosstopics and time however. Trends dealing with equal rights andindividualism had the most consistent liberal movement. Trendsdealing with economic regulatioin and government power showedmixed change, while movement was mostly in the conservativedirection on the topic of crime. Liberal growth was strongestduring the 1960s and early 1970s. In the mid-1970s, many liberaltrends slowed, with some stopping their advance and a few reversingdirection. On average, liberal growth leveled off, but did notmove in conservative direction. In large part, this shift insocial change represents a response to the events of the period,but it may also be a periodic alternation of the cycle of reform.     

Qualifications to Generalized Absolutes: "Approval of Hitting" Questions on the GSS

An analysis of "approval of hitting" questions on the GeneralSocial Surveys finds evidence of correlated error. Respondentsfrequently ignore the absolute phrasing of questions. As a result,they often contradict themselves by approving of specific usesof hitting after having rejected any use of such force. Thesecontradictors tend to have lower education and less supportfor punitive responses on other items.     

THAT WHICH WE CALL WELFARE BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL SWEETER AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF QUESTION WORDING ON RESPONSE PATTERNS

Responses to survey questions are dependent on the words usedin the questions. Sometimes the alteration of words can completelychange the response distribution without obviously changingthe meaning or intent of the question. This situation occurswhen "welfare" is used instead of "poor." In all contexts examined"welfare" produced much more negative and less generous responsesthan "poor." In addition the two terms appear to tap slightlydifferent dimensions with "welfare" accessing notions of wasteand bureaucracy that are untapped or tapped much less by "poor."     

CHANGING RACIAL LABELS: FROM "COLORED" TO "NEGRO" TO "BLACK" TO "AFRICAN AMERICAN"

Labels play an important role in defining groups and individualswho belong to the groups. This has been especially true forracial and ethnic groups in general and for Blacks in particular.Over the past century the standard term for Blacks has shiftedfrom "Colored" to "Negro" to "Black" and now perhaps to "AfricanAmerican." The changes can be seen as attempts by Blacks toredefine themselves and to gain respect and standing in a societythat has held them to be subordinate and inferior.