Is Canada A Case of Gender Realignment?

This paper uses data from the Canadian Election Studies to analyze the evolution of gender gaps in vote choice since 1965. It shows that a ‘modern gender gap’ has emerged in Canada, not because women have been moving to the left, but because women have been less likely than men to move away from the left. It then goes on to determine whether the changing nature of the gender gap in NDP voting can be explained by structural and situational changes in women’s–and men’s–lives. It concludes that these changes can provide only a very partial explanation of the process of gender realignment in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]