Canada's pluralism in comparative perspective

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Abstract
In the contemporary world system of independent states, why do some states have more internal diversity or pluralism than others? This article attempts to locate Canada's level of pluralism in comparative context by sequentially combining the two comparative strategies identified by Ragin (1987). First, following a variable‐oriented strategy, a regression analysis of cross‐national data reveals that the Canadian case is definitely an outlier in the overall inverse relationship between socio‐economic development and cultural and linguistic pluralism, as are Belgium, Switzerland and the United States. All these states have higher levels of pluralism than would be expected on the basis of their high level of soci‐economic development. Second, following a case‐oriented strategy, a more detailed holistic comparison of Canada and the United States is carried out with reference to five dimensions of pluralism. This second comparison shows how Canada has more pluralism than the United States on each of these dimensions. These differences are explained by referring to the way that the Canadian state has developed alongside a much larger and more powerful neighbour. Taken together, these comparisons help to explain Canada's distinctive position as the most extreme outlier of all.

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