Canadian Parties in Transition, Third Edition - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551117851 ISBN 13: 9781551117850

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2007

Synopsis

Alain-G. Gagnon and A. Brian Tanguay continue the work of earlier editions of Canadian Parties in Transition by presenting a multi-faceted image of party dynamics, electoral behaviour, political marketing, and representative democracy, with chapters written by an outstanding team of political scientists. Innovative features of the third edition include an examination of party alignments and the mobilization of interests, a discussion of democratic participation, and a critical exploration of direct democracy through referendums and other mechanisms. The comparative literature on party politics is brought in systematically to provide a better account of Canadian party politics. The greater part of this volume consists of entirely new chapters; others have been completely revised and updated. An appendix that provides Canadian federal election results from 1925 to 2006 rounds out the book.

About this title

About the Author

Alain-G. Gagnon holds the Canada Research Chair in Québec and Canadian Studies in the Department of Political Science at UQAM. He is author of Minority Nations in the Age of Uncertainty (2014), which has been translated into 18 languages.
A. Brian Tanguay is Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. He was the lead author of the Law Commission of Canada’s report Voting Counts: Electoral Reform for Canada (2004).

Review

The release of this substantially revised and updated third edition of Gagnon and Tanguay's important book is particularly welcome at this time. Not only have there been substantial developments in the evolution of the Canadian party system that deserve attention (the consolidation of the political right in the new Conservative Party and the scandals that brought down the Liberals, to mention only two), but there have been a number of important shifts in the context and rules of party competition that have also occurred in the decade that has passed since the second edition appeared. Of particular note are the substantial efforts that the contributors make to place Canadian developments within a broader comparative framework, drawn from theories of realignment/dealignment, value change, party decline, political communication, cartel party theory, or civic engagement and literacy. As a result, this volume marks an important step in bringing a Canadian perspective to the growing comparative literature on political parties and groups.

(Munroe Eagles, SUNY, Buffalo)

A first-rate collection of well-writen and carefully executed pieces. Thanks to this book, our knowledge about the Canadian parties, in 'transition,' is clearly in progress.

(Richard Nadeau, Universite de Montreal)

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1551117851
• ISBN 13: 9781551117850
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 576
• Editor: Gagnon Alain G., Tanguay Brian