Provincial and Territorial Politics in Canada and Beyond

J11 - Electoral Politics, Representation, and Party Systems in Federal States

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Nadia Verrelli (Laurentian University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Alan Fenna (Curtin University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Martin Papillon (Université de Montréal)

Representational Styles Among Australian and Canadian Sub-State Members: Royce Koop (University of Manitoba), Kelly Blidook (Memorial University)
Abstract: In 2018, we (along with Heather Bastedo) developed the representational connections framework from observation of Canadian MPs. In the framework, representational styles consist of the patterns of connections MPs build and maintain with their constituents. These consist of policy, service, symbolic, and party connections. MPs’ representational styles are shaped by perceptions of their constituencies, their own goals, and experiential learning. In this paper, we draw on a survey of sub-state MPs in Australia and Canada to answer two research questions. First, how prevalent are these four types of connections in MPs’ representational styles? Second, to what extent do the influences identified in our observational research affect the representational styles MPs develop?

An Analytical Framework for Regional Voting Behaviour based on European and North American Research: Calum Paterson (University of Edinburgh), Ailsa Henderson (University of Edinburgh)
Abstract: This paper aims to define an analytical framework for explaining voter behaviour at subnational levels within multilevel states through a comparative review of literature on voting behaviour at both the national and regional level, as developed in both North America and Europe. Whilst American models of voting behaviour, such as the Michigan model, have been applied at the national level in multilevel states such as the UK and Canada, substate variations in voting behaviour are overlooked. European research attempts to remedy this tendency by challenging the notion that regional elections are necessarily ‘second order’ (Reif and Schmitt 1980) arguing that both horizontal and vertical electoral arena interactions are crucial to understanding voting behaviour (Schakel and Romanova 2018). In regions with strong sub-national identities, these identities can also act as filters through which democratic institutions are engaged with. Canadian and Quebecois studies extend the Michigan model to account for identity-based determinants of voting behaviour, creating the bloc-recursive model (Miller and Shanks 1996; Daoust and Jabbour 2020 etc). While useful, the model may not account for horizontal and vertical arena spillover as common in other countries, perhaps due to Canada’s “disconnected and detached” party system (Wolinetz and Carty 2006, p. 54). The framework aims to address methodological nationalism (Jeffery and Wincott 2010) by centring regional voting behaviour as a unit of analysis, and to integrate demographic and issue-based determinants of regional voting behaviour with multilevel structural determinants in a coherent model. The suitability and utility of the general framework will be preliminarily tested using Scottish Election Study data in the paper.

Citizens’ Assemblies and Electoral Reform in Canada: Sara McPhee-Knowles (Yukon University), Jonathan Rose (Queen's University), Patricia Mockler (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Citizens’ assemblies are a randomly selected group of residents who come together over an extended period of meetings to learn and deliberate on a specific topic. The first citizens’ assembly took place on electoral reform in British Columbia (BC) in 2004. This initiative inspired similar citizens’ assemblies in Ontario in 2006 and the Yukon Territory in 2024, along with others worldwide. All three of these citizens’ assemblies were asked to answer the same question, but generated different recommendations. Why? In this paper, we will analyze the citizens’ assemblies that took place in BC, Ontario and the Yukon, and comment on which factors influenced the different outcomes. Along with different outcomes, the assemblies ranged in size and length of process, had different appetites for reform, and took place in distinct political cultures. We will comment on what these factors and outcomes suggest about the deliberative format of citizens’ assemblies and subnational politics in Canada. The BC Citizens’ Assembly recommended single transferable vote (STV); the 2005 referendum narrowly missed the supermajority thresholds (Pilon, 2010), leading to two subsequent referenda in 2009 and 2018 that also did not pass. The Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform recommended a mixed-member proportional system. In the 2007 referendum, just under 37% of Ontarians voted in favour of electoral reform (Stephenson and Tanguay, 2009). Most recently, the Yukon Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform recommended Ranked Vote to replace First-Past-the-Post, and a plebiscite has been announced that will take place at the same time as the next general territorial election in 2025 (Hatherly, 2024). References: Pilon, Dennis. 2010. “The 2005 and 2009 Referenda on Voting System Change in British Columbia.” Canadian Political Science Review. 4:2-3 (June-September), 73-89. https://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/251/301 Stephenson, Laura B. and Brian Tanguay. 2009. “Ontario’s Referendum on Proportional Representation: Why Citizens Said No.” IRPP Choices. 15: 10 (September), 1-30. https://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/OntariosReferendumOnPR_WhyCitizensSaidNo.pdf Hatherly, Dana. 2024. “Yukoners may get electoral reform question with next territorial ballot.” Yukon News. September 17. https://www.yukon-news.com/news/yukoners-may-get-electoral-reform-question-with-next-territorial-ballot-7540671

The Configuration of Legislative Apportionment and Vertical Party System Congruence in Liberal Democratic Federations.: Patrick Desjardins (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: Striking the right degree of de/centralization in party system integration has long been understood as a key variable in explaining the long-term viability of liberal democratic federations (Wheare 1946, Riker 1964). Despite this recognition, there is no clear consensus within the field of comparative federalism regarding the precise threshold at which party system de/centralization may essentially undermine federal arrangements through either excessive centralization or, at the other extreme, secessionism. In practice, liberal democratic federations demonstrate considerable variance in the degree to which regional and central party systems overlap. Adopting a configurational approach (Greer, Béland, Lecours, Dubbin 2023), this paper seeks to explain patterns of vertical party system congruence among liberal democratic federations in terms of the configuration of legislative apportionment in the central legislatures of such federations. The paper develops a framework for identifying the configuration of legislative apportionment in Australia, Austria, Canada, and Switzerland. To this end, it identifies a pattern wherein liberal democratic federations which have higher relative degrees of regional equality in central legislatures simultaneously exhibit greater overlap between party system patterns at the central and regional levels. In so doing, it additionally finds that liberal democratic federations with higher degrees of regional legislative equality have also experienced fewer and less organized secessionist political movements. The paper thus aims to contribute to furthering work in the field of comparative federalism that emphasizes the influence of federal institutional design in understanding the relationship between party systems and federal stability (Chhibber & Kollman 2004; Thorlakson 2009, 2011, 2020).