Comparing Canada: Methods and Perspectives on Canadian Politics

Debating how Canada compares – both regionally and in relation to other countries – is a national pastime. This book examines how political scientists use comparison as a tool to better understand Canadian political life. Using a variety of methods, the contributors explore topics as diverse as Indigenous rights, voting behaviour, and climate policy. While their theoretical perspectives and the kinds of questions they explore vary greatly, as a whole they demonstrate how the “art of comparing” is an important strategy for understanding Canadian identity politics, political mobilization, political institutions, and public policy.

Luc Turgeon and Jennifer Wallner are assistant professors in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. Martin Papillon is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the Université de Montréal. Stephen White is a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University.