POLS2650 Reflection
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University of Guelph *
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Course
2650
Subject
Political Science
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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5
Uploaded by superpurple
1
POLS 2650
Analysis: Why does Pierre Poilievre appeal to young Canadians?
Sam Routley’s article titled “Analysis: Why does Pierre Poilievre appeal to young
Canadians?” uses a variety of normative and nonnormative statements to understand political
trends and emphasize the role of empirical evidence in forming arguments. The two main
questions the article aims to answer are “Why has Pierre Poilievre been successful at gaining
support among younger voters?” and “What impact could his appeal to young voters have on the
Party’s future?” These questions are important because they address the recent shift in Canadian
politics. The Conservative Party has historically struggled to attract younger voters, however,
that is predicted to change. Analyzing the reasons behind Poilievre's success with this
demographic and its potential consequences for the Conservatives' electoral prospects is crucial
for understanding the evolving political landscape in Canada. The article suggests that Poilievre's
appeal to younger voters is due to his messaging that addresses their political anxieties and
dissatisfaction, but it also questions the long-term sustainability of this trend and whether it
signifies a broader shift among younger Canadians.
To answer the main questions, the author provides a couple of causal claims to support
their arguments, such as how Poilievre’s messages target economic anxieties and his anti-liberal
stance, helping him appeal to younger Canadians. When addressing this demographic, Routley
suggests that Poilievre has successfully identified and prioritized issues such as the
inaccessibility of home ownership, income instability, and inflation. Since these issues resonate
so well with young Canadians, Poilievre's appeal to young voters can be credited to his ability to
handle general dissatisfaction and economic anxieties. The article does not provide specific
empirical evidence to verify this causal claim directly. However, it mentions that recent polls
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show a plurality of young voters supporting the Conservative Party, which attributes much of this
shift to Pierre Poilievre (Routley, par. 10). To verify this claim thoroughly, one would need to
analyze polling data and surveys that specifically assess the reasons for young voters' support for
Poilievre and the issues that matter most to them. Routley also suggests that Pierre Poilievre's
momentum among younger people is derived from an anti-liberal sentiment. According to the
article, young Canadians perceive the Trudeau government as unable to address their growing
economic concerns, creating dissatisfaction and a desire for change (Routley, par. 17). While the
article discusses trends and shifts in the Party’s support among young voters, it does not offer a
deep empirical analysis with extensive data or surveys to support its claims. To verify these
claims more rigorously, researchers would need to conduct surveys and polls targeted toward
young voters to assess their preferences, reasons for supporting Poilievre, and their sentiments
toward the Liberal government.
Non-normative statements are based on empirical evidence that proves the argument
being made. A non-normative statement in the article is "recent polls show that a plurality,
although not a majority, of young voters now support the Conservative Party" (Routley, par. 10).
This statement is based on empirical data, the polling results, that reflect the current state of
support among young voters rather than describing what the author believes is the level of
support. The non-normative nature of this statement is due to the fact that it is an observation of a
particular trend in young voters' political preferences. It does not make any value judgments or
claims about whether this support for the Conservative Party is good or bad. Instead, it simply
reports on the current distribution of support based on available data.
Normative statements are subjective and convey opinions or assessments of what should
be considered right or wrong, in the author’s opinion. A piece of normative knowledge present in
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the article is the statement that "younger Canadians care about issues that the Conservatives
perform poorly on, like climate change and social equity" (Routley, par. 25). This statement is
normative because it expresses a judgment about the Conservative Party's performance on
specific issues like climate change and social equity as a negative aspect of their platform. The
author is making a normative judgment that the Conservative Party's performance on those issues
is subpar in his opinion. It implies that the party should perform better on these issues to align
with what the author considers to be the correct way to handle the problems.
The article's main goal is to provide an analysis of political dynamics and trends
grounded in non-normative information and data. Routley relies more on non-normative
information to make his point. The majority of the article is focused on providing descriptive
observations about political trends, the reasons behind Pierre Poilievre's appeal to young voters,
and the shifts in voter preferences. These observations are based on empirical data, such as
polling results, historical voting behaviour, and trends in support among young voters. For
example, the author discusses the shift in young voters' support towards the Conservative Party
and attributes it to how Pierre Poilievre appeals to the younger demographic. While the article
does include some normative statements, such as assessments of the Conservative Party's
performance on certain issues, these normative statements are relatively limited compared to the
amount of descriptive information and analysis presented.
The most difficult part of working on this reflection was identifying the main points of
the analysis and answering why they are essential. I found these to be the most challenging as
they shaped the entirety of the paper; therefore, they had to be as accurate and correct as
possible. However, the assignment was relatively easy overall, and having the questions as a
guide to what information is needed was very helpful. The main takeaway from this reflection
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was to properly analyze the type of statements authors make to recognize whether they are based
on facts or their opinions. In conclusion, by actively analyzing the kind of statements the author
makes to prove their point, we identify whether there is bias or if their claims are empirical.
References
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Routley, S. (2022, September 4). Analysis: Why does Pierre Poilievre appeal to young
Canadians?
https://nationalpost.com/news/why-does-pierre-poilievre-appeal-to-young-canadians-its-
all-about-economics-2