The Dominion of Newfoundland was a highly polarized society, marked by distinct cleavages between Roman Catholics and Protestants, Liberals and Conservatives, descendants of Irish and West Country English, rich merchants and poor fishermen and tradesmen, and rural Newfoundland versus St. John's (or alternatively the Avalon Peninsula against the rest of the Dominion's districts).

This resulted in a famous episode in 1932 when a large riot erupted at the Colonial Building and then Prime Minister Richard Squires narrowly escaped.

The Commission oversaw slow growth during the beginning of its reign, but Newfoundland began to thrive during World War II.

In the first, Newfoundlanders were asked to vote on whether to join Canada as a province, return to an independent dominion with responsible government, or continue with an appointed Commission.

The movement for responsible government tended to be weaker, less organized in rural areas, and had some divisions stemming from many of its members supporting a special economic union with the United States.

The Roman Catholic establishment, centered in St. John's, feared a loss of power and the possible elimination of its role in denominational education after confederation.

These were measures to which Newfoundland migrants to Canada and the United States were already accustomed, but could not be as successfully promised by the Avalon Peninsula-based, affluent leaders of the RGL.

For example, in the 1950s the Smallwood government began a controversial resettlement program to relocate Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from hundreds of small, rural settlements and communities to larger urban areas.

Smallwood for example is credited with bungling a deal on the Churchill Falls hydro-electric development in Labrador and creating a situation where the province of Quebec reaps most of the benefits.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland remained in power from 1972 to 1989, first under the leadership of Frank Moores then from 1979 to 1989 under Brian Peckford.

Peckford's agenda was characterized by battles with the federal government under Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and then Brian Mulroney.

The Peckford government stated, early in its term, its intention to make the fishery the prime generator of wealth and stability in the province's future.

Peckford's later career became mired in a subsidized farming scandal, he retired from politics in 1989 and was succeeded by Tom Rideout.

He was also the premier when the federal government brought in a moratorium on year round cod fishing, a pivotal moment in Newfoundland and Labrador's recent history, ever since which outmigration and depopulation have been a perpetual problem.

The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is unique because the government sits to the left of the speaker in parliament rather than the right, which is the norm in the Westminster system.

The left-wing, populist Fisherman's Protective Union (FPU) under William Coaker during the 1920s and 1930s achieved a breakthrough in politics.

[12] Under Danny Williams, any traditional notions of a left-right spectrum in Newfoundland and Labrador politics appeared to deteriorate.