POLITICAL GENERATIONS, ECONOMIC RATIONALITY AND SUPPORT FOR SOVEREIGNTY IN QUEBEC

Is political choice under conditions of uncertainty influenced more by expected losses than by expected gains? Does the relative importance of economic rationality in political choice vary between generations? The analysis of individual opinion on sovereignty in Quebec sheds new light on these questions. Among determinants of individual support for sovereignty, apprehensions of possible losses play a more important role than expectations of possible gains. The relative importance of the evaluation of economic consequences in the decision to support sovereignty, however, differs across three generations. These differences can be explained with reference to the economic context that prevailed when members of each generation reached adulthood.