![]() The Progressive Conservative tsunami did not last beyond one term but psephologists have had a field day analyzing what happened. The Liberals were reduced to 48 seats and the then-CCF (today’s New Democrats) to only eight seats. Receiving 78.5 per cent of the vote, Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservatives soared to victory, winning 208 of 265 seats. On March 31, 1958, Diefenbaker turned his minority government into the largest majority government in Canadian history. That is when the political tsunami occurred, or sometimes they are simply termed lop-sided victories. Laurent.įinally, of course, 1957’s federal election saw the emergence of John Diefenbaker, although as leader of a minority government (112 of 265 seats in Parliament).ĭiefenbaker seemed to sense the mood of Canadians and as a new prime minister called a snap election just nine months into his term. Second, the election ended 22 years of Liberal dominance and was the political career end for one of Canada’s most gentle prime ministers, Louis St. First, voter turn-out exceeded 74 per cent of eligible voters. The 1957 federal election was notable for several reasons. Meisel was a remarkably foresighted social scientist and, I must add, a good friend and colleague. In Canada, voting behaviour and analysis really emerged when Queen’s University political scientist John Meisel published his book on Canada’s 1957 general election. Your political opinions can earn big profits for pollsters. Indeed an immense industry has grown worldwide wherein public opinion polls are undertaken to evaluate and test prospective voter sentiment. Opinion polls are one off-shoot of psephological analysis. Psephology is based upon a Greek word for “pebble” and stems from ancient Greek history when light and dark pebbles were cast into urns as a form of voting. Psephology is a sub-field of political science where quantitative analysis of elections and voting behaviour are undertaken.
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