Housing-Consumption Sectors and Political Response in Urban Canada

Abstract

The theory of consumption sectors and the domestic property class model are both examined in terms of their claims about the links between position in the housing market and political alignment. These contradictory claims are then assessed in the Canadian context. It is argued that the theory of consumption sectors, as outlined by Dunleavy, is less helpful in understanding the Canadian situation insofar as one does find a relationship between housing position and political alignment in a situation of largely individualised housing consumption. Further, the concern of homeowners for housing programmes as election issues plays a part in maintaining the objective basis for distinctions between housing tenures, also supporting the domestic property class model.