Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T20:50:47.379Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Interest Group Adaptations to Campaign Finance Reform in Canada and the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2009

Robert G. Boatright*
Affiliation:
Clark University
*
Robert G. Boatright, Department of Government and International Affairs, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA, USA01610, rboatright@clarku.edu.

Abstract

Abstract. The United States and Canada enacted similar campaign finance reforms in the early 2000s. This article draws upon interviews with leaders of the major Canadian interest groups to explore similarities and differences in the responses of Canadian and American interest groups to reform. While groups in both countries shared an increased emphasis on mobilization and communication with members, the Canadian reforms were more effective at removing many groups from political campaigns entirely. This difference is primarily a result of differences in the two nations' party systems and the historical development of interest groups in the two countries.

Résumé. Au début des années 2000, les États-Unis et le Canada ont promulgué des lois similaires visant la réforme du financement des campagnes électorales. Cet article est basé sur des entretiens avec les chefs des principaux groupes d'intérêt canadiens. Il étudie les ressemblances et les différences entre leurs réponses à ces réformes et celles des groupes d'intérêt américains. Même si les groupes des deux pays ont tous insisté sur la communication et la mobilisation de leurs membres, les réformes canadiennes ont mieux réussi à éliminer entièrement plusieurs groupes des campagnes électorales. Cette différence s'explique surtout par la structure différente des deux systèmes de partis politiques et par l'évolution historique des groupes d'intérêt dans ces deux pays.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archer, Keith and Whitehorn, Alan. 1997. Political Activists: The NDP in Convention. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Black, Naomi. 1992. “Ripples in the Second Wave: Comparing the Contemporary Women's Movement in Canada and the United States.” In Challenging Times: The Women's Movement in Canada and the United States, ed. Backhouse, Constance and Flaherty, David H.. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.Google Scholar
Boatright, Robert G., Malbin, Michael J., Rozell, Mark J., Skinner, Richard and Wilcox, Clyde. 2003. “BCRA's Impact on Interest Groups and Advocacy Organizations.” In Life after Reform: When the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Meets Politics, ed. Malbin, Michael J.. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Boatright, Robert G., Malbin, Michael J., Rozell, Mark J. and Wilcox, Clyde. 2006. “Interest Groups and Advocacy Organizations after BCRA.” In The Election after Reform: Money, Politics, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, ed. Malbin, Michael J.. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Campaign Life Coalition. 2006. “Federal Elections 2006: Evaluating the Parties.” http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal2006/news_items/partiesandleaders.html (July 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Canada. Human Resources and Social Development. n.d. “Union Membership in Canada—2007.” http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/lp/wid/union_membership.shtml (July 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Canadian Council of Chief Executives. 2004. Memorandum for Leaders of Federal Political Parties—Restoring Trust, Delivering Solutions: Making a Minority Parliament Work for Canadians. Ottawa ON: Canadian Council of Chief Executives. 29 June.Google Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth, Cross, William P. and Young, Lisa. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Carty, R. Kenneth and Eagles, Munroe. 2005. Politics is Local: National Politics at the Grassroots. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Coleman, William D. and Grant, Wyn P.. 1985. “Regional Differentiation of Business Interest Associations: A Comparison of Canada and the United Kingdom.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 18(1): 329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, William D. and Jacek, Henry J.. 1983. “The Roles and Activities of Business Associations in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 16(2): 257–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrado, Anthony. 2006. “Party Finance in the Wake of BCRA.” In The Election after Reform: Money, Politics, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, ed. Malbin, Michael J.. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Cross, William. 2004. Political Parties: The Canadian Democratic Audit. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Dobrowolsky, Alexandra. 2000. The Politics of Pragmatism: Women, Representation, and Constitutionalism in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eagles, Munroe. 2004. “The Effectiveness of Local Campaign Spending in the 1993 and 1997 Federal Elections in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37(1): 117–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 2007. Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Fraser, Graham. 1989. Playing for Keeps: The Making of the Prime Minister, 1988. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Gagnon, Alain G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. 1989. “Minor Parties of Protest in Canada: Origins, Impact, and Prospects.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Gagnon, Alain G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. Scarborough ON: Nelson Canada.Google Scholar
Galipeau, Claude. 1989. “Political Parties, Interest Groups, and New Social Movements: Toward New Representation?” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Gagnon, Alain G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. Scarborough ON: Nelson Canada.Google Scholar
Hargrove, Buzz. 2005. “Making the Most of Opportunity.” Context 8(5), 9 December.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2009. The Politics of Congressional Elections. 7th ed.New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Jansen, Harold and Young, Lisa. 2005. “Solidarity Forever? The NDP, Organized Labour, and the Changing Face of Party Finance in Canada.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, London, Ontario.Google Scholar
Jeffrey, Brooke. 1999. Hard Right Turn: The New Face of Neo-Conservatism in Canada. Toronto: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Kwavnick, David. 1970. “Pressure Group Demands and the Struggle for Organizational Status: The Case of Organized Labour in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 3(1): 5672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laycock, David. 2002. The New Right and Democracy in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1991. Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Loewen, Peter John and Blais, Andre. 2006. “Did Bill C-24 Affect Voter Turnout? Evidence from the 2000 and 2004 Elections.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 39(4): 935–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malbin, Michael J. 2003. “Thinking about Reform.” In Life After Reform: When the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Meets Politics, ed. Malbin, Michael J.. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Neumann, Ken. 2006. “Why We Didn't Do What Buzz Did.” http://www.usw.ca/program/content/3096.php (December 23, 2008).Google Scholar
Nevitte, Neil. 1996. The Decline of Deference: Canadian Value Change in Cross-National Perspective. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pal, Leslie. 1993. Interests of State: The Politics of Language, Multiculturalism, and Feminism in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paltiel, Khayyam Z. 1989. “Political Marketing, Party Finance, and the Decline of Canadian Parties.” In Canadian Parties in Transition, ed. Gagnon, Alain G. and Tanguay, A. Brian. Scarborough ON: Nelson Canada.Google Scholar
Phillips, Kate. 2007. “Group Reaches Settlement with FEC Over 2004 Campaign Advertising.” The New York Times, 1 March, A16.Google Scholar
Pierce, John C., Steger, Mary Ann E., Steel, Brent S. and Lovrich, Nicholas P.. 1992. Citizens, Political Communication, and Interest Groups: Environmental Organizations in Canada and the United States. Westport CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Presthus, Robert. 1973. Elite Accommodation in Canadian Politics. Toronto: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pross, A. Paul. 1992. Group Politics and Public Policy. 2nd ed.Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, Jeffrey. 2002. The Friendly Dictatorship. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Smith, Miriam. 2005. A Civil Society? Collective Actors in Canadian Political Life. Toronto: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, Ian. 2005. “Bill C24: Replacing the Market with the State?Electoral Insight, January. http://www.elections.ca/eca/eim/article_search/article.asp?id=127&lang=e&frmPageSize=&textonly=false (July 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Stewart-Patterson, David. 2003. Testimony to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 37th Parliament, 2nd Session, 1 May.Google Scholar
Tanguay, A. Brian. 2002. “Parties, Organized Interests, and Electoral Democracy: The 1999 Ontario Provincial Election.” In Political Parties, Representation, and Electoral Democracy in Canada, ed. Cross, William T.. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tanguay, A. Brian and Kay, Barry J.. 1991. “Political Activity of Local Interest Groups.” In Interest Groups and Elections in Canada, ed. Seidle, F. Leslie. Toronto: Dundurn Press.Google Scholar
United States. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labour Statistics. 2008. “Union Members in 2007.” http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf (December 22, 2008).Google Scholar
Whitehorn, Alan. 1992. Canadian Socialism: Essays on the CCF-NDP. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Yates, Charlotte A. B. 1993. From Plant to Politics: The Autoworkers Union in Postwar Canada. Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Young, Lisa. 2000. Feminists and Party Politics. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Young, Lisa and Everitt, Joanna. 2004. Advocacy Groups: The Canadian Democratic Audit. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Yussuff, Hassan. 2003. Testimony to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 37th Parliament, 2nd Session, 1 May.Google Scholar