Accountability and Responsiveness at the Municipal Level: Views from Canada (McGill-Queen's Studies in Urban Governance, 9) (Volume 9) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773553290 ISBN 13: 9780773553293

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018

Synopsis

In Canada, the quality of municipal democracy has been questioned due to three crucial factors. First, voter turnout tends to be significantly lower for municipal elections than it is for other levels of government. Second, the re-election rate of incumbent candidates is higher compared to provincial, territorial, and federal elections. Third, corruption and other scandals have tarnished the image of local democracy. Are cities sufficiently capable of responding to crises and representing the interests of their residents?

Accountability and Responsiveness at the Municipal Level addresses these issues through qualitative and quantitative analysis, focusing on some of the most important characteristics of the Canadian municipal scene, including the contexts of partisanship and non-partisanship, the careers and daily work of municipal officials, and multilevel governance. This volume also assists directly in the collection and dissemination of data about cities as there is currently no centralized system for capturing and organizing electoral statistics at the municipal level.

Municipal democracy in Canada suffers from a representation deficit. Accountability and Responsiveness at the Municipal Level is an important first step in building high-quality comparative information on the politics of Canada’s cities.

About this title

About the Authors

Sandra Breux is associate professor at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique.

Jérôme Couture is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique.

From the Back Cover

Series editors: Kristin Good and Martin Horak

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in local politics and the governance of cities - both in Canada and around the world. Globally, the city has become a consequential site where instances of social conflict and of cooperation play out. Urban centres are increasingly understood as vital engines of innovation and prosperity and a growing body of interdisciplinary research on urban issues suggests that high-performing cities have become crucial to the success of nations, even in the global era. Yet at the same time, local and regional governments continue to struggle for political recognition and for the policy resources needed to manage cities, to effectively govern, and to achieve sustainable growth.

The purpose of the McGill-Queen's Studies in Urban Governance series is to highlight the growing importance of municipal issues, local governance, and the need for policy reform in urban spaces. The series aims to answer the question "why do cities matter?" while exploring relationships between levels of government and examining the changing dynamics of metropolitan and community development. By taking a four-pronged approach to the study of urban governance, the series encourages debate and discussion of: (1) actors, institutions, and how cities are governed; (2) policy issues and policy reform; (3) the city as case study; and (4) urban politics and policy through a comparative framework.

With a strong focus on governance, policy, and the role of the city, this series welcomes manuscripts from a broad range of disciplines and viewpoints.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773553290
• ISBN 13: 9780773553293
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Breux Sandra, Couture Jérôme