Assessing the Stability of Elite Political Culture: An Empirical Analysis of the Attitudes of Elected Officials in Canada

Do attitudes of Members of the 32nd and 40th parliament differ on issues of political ethics? Or have attitudes remained unchanged? Based on interviews of 44 members of the 40th parliament and 107 members of the 32nd parliament, this thesis explores attitude shifts across time. The study reveals that in the areas of conflict of interest and patronage attitudes have hardened. Members of Parliament (MPs) from the 40th parliament are more sensitive to these dimensions of political corruption as opposed to MPs from the 32nd parliament. For ethically charged scenarios dealing with gifts & gains and lying, MPs from the 40th parliament are more tolerant than MPs from the 32nd parliament. Finally, the thesis calls for future research on potential differences in opinions related to factors such as years of service, regionalism and the role of partisanship