Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T08:52:36.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Value Diversity and Support for Electoral Reform in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2006

Mebs Kanji  and
Antoine Bilodeau
Mebs Kanji
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Antoine Bilodeau
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Political representatives in Canada have traditionally been selected using a first-past-the-post electoral system. The major problem with this process of determining “who governs” is that larger parties are often rewarded the majority of seats in legislatures without winning a majority of popular support. Recently, the debate on electoral reform in Canada has begun to gain steam, as several provinces have started to look more seriously at alternatives (Milner 2004). Declining voter turnout may explain why even governments that benefit from the current electoral system are finding it increasingly difficult to simply sideline this issue. But what accounts for the Canadian public's more recent frustration with their traditional electoral system?We would like to thank Nicki Doyle for her research assistance and Concordia University for its financial support.

Type
SYMPOSIUM—THE POLITICS OF CANADA
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , October 2006 , pp. 829 - 836
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

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

APSA Task Force on Inequality, and American Democracy. 2004. American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality. Available at: www.apsanet.org/imgtest/taskforcereport.pdf.
Costa, D. L., and M. E. Kahn. 2003. “Civic Engagement and Community Heterogeneity: An Economist's Perspective.” Perspectives on Politics 1 (March): 103–11.Google Scholar
Dalton, R. 2004. Democratic Challenges Democratic Choices: The Erosion of Political Support in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Easton, D. 1965. A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York: Wiley.
Elkins, D., and R. Simeon. 1980. Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life. Toronto: Methuen Publications.
Hartz, L. 1964. The Founding of New Societies: Studies in the History of the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, and Australia. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Inglehart, R. 1977. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R. 1990. Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R. 1997. Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R., and P. Norris. 2000. “The Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap: Women's and Men's Voting Behavior in Global Perspective.” International Political Science Review 21: 441–63.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R., and P. Norris. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lipset, S. M., and S. Rokkan. 1967. Party Systems and Voter Alignments. New York: Free Press.
McRae, K. D. 1964. “ The Structure of Canadian History.” In The Founding of New Societies: Studies in the History of the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, and Australia, ed. L. Hartz. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 219–62.
Milner, H. 2004. Steps Toward Making Every Vote Count: Electoral System Reform in Canada and its Provinces. Toronto: Broadview Press.
Nevitte, N. 1996. The Decline of Deference: Canadian Value Change in Cross-National Perspective. Peterborough: Broadview Press.
Norris, P., and R. Inglehart. 2003. “Gendering Social Capital: Bowling in Women's Leagues.” Prepared for the conference on Gender and Social Capital, St. John's College, University of Manitoba.
Porter, J. 1965. The Vertical Mosaic: an Analysis of Social Class and Power in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Putnam, R. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Rokeach, M. 1968. Beliefs, Attitudes and Values: A Theory of Organization and Change. California: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
Schwartz, M. 1974. Politics and Territory: The Sociology of Regional Persistence in Canada. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Sniderman, P., R. Brody, and P. E. Tetlock. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Statistics Canada. 2002a. 2001 Census: Analysis Series. Profile of Languages in Canada: English, French and Many Others. Catalogue no. 96F0030XIE2001005.
Statistics Canada. 2003a. 2001 Census: Analysis Series. Canada's Ethnocultural Portrait: The Changing Mosaic. Catalogue no. 96F0030XIE2001008.
Statistics Canada. 2003b. 2001 Census: Analysis Series. Education in Canada: Raising the Standard. Catalogue no. 96F0030XIE2001012.
Van Deth, J., and E. Scarbrough. 1995. The Impact of Values. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Verba, S., K. L. Schlozman, and H. Brady. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.