Canadian Politics

Straddling the Divide: Conservatism and Populism in Harper’s Canada and Howard’s Australia

by Benjamin Moffitt

Written with Dave Snow, University of Calgary. Presented at Canadian Political Studies Annual Conference, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada, 16-18 May, 2011. Later version to be published in Commonwealth & Comparative Studies.

In 2003, future Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a speech in the Canadian House of Commons regarding... more In 2003, future Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a speech in the Canadian House of Commons regarding the Iraq war that plagiarized from then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard (Weeks and Taber 2008). Harper and Howard, as it turns out, have far more in common than some borrowed words. Despite governing a decade apart in very different economic circumstances, both leaders identified policies to satisfy two factions within their respective centre-right parties – social conservatives and classical liberals. Moreover, in framing these policies to the electorate, both Harper and Howard made frequent appeals to populism, using wedge politics and “dog whistling” to divide the community between “ordinary” Canadians/Australians and an “out-of-touch” elite. When it came to uniting their base to defeat and subsequently stifle their opposition, Harper and Howard pursued remarkably similar strategies with respect to both policy content and political messaging.

Straddling the Divide: Mainstream Populism & Conservatism

by Benjamin Moffitt

Co-authored with Dave Snow, University of Calgary. To be published in upcoming issue of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics.

This article builds on the insights of Sawer & Laycock (2009) to explore similarities in the use of populist... more This article builds on the insights of Sawer & Laycock (2009) to explore similarities in the use of populist discourse by former Australian Prime John Howard and current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. While Sawer and Laycock label this discourse ‘market populism’ and focus on economic issues, we argue that Howard and Harper’s populism is better understood as ‘mainstream populism’ due to the equal importance of sociocultural issues in their discourses. To demonstrate, we consider the treatment of issues such as immigration, multiculturalism, the culture wars, criminal justice, and childcare. We further suggest that such populist policies were used to satisfy rival wings of their respective parties – neoliberals and social conservatives – that do not always share the same priorities.

Interculturalism in Practice: Québec's New Ethics and Religious Culture Curriculum and the Bouchard-Taylor Report on Reasonable Accommodation

by David Waddington

Pre-print version of book chapter. Co-authored with Bruce Maxwell, Kevin McDonough, Marina Schwimmer, and Andrée-Anne Cormier.

Still the fire proof house?: An analysis of Canada's Cyber Security Strategy

by Victor Platt

Published in International Journal 2012

Keeping the Peace and National Unity. Canada’s National and International Identity Nexus

by Nik Hynek

co-authored with Robert Thomsen, published in "International Journal", Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 845-858. ISSN 0020-7020

Mark of Cain(ada): Racialized Security Discourse in Canada's National Newspapers

by Naava Smolash

This essay compares coverage in two of Canada's national newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the National Post, of two... more This essay compares coverage in two of Canada's national newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the National Post, of two high-profile anti-terrorism cases: Project Thread (2003) and the Toronto 18 (2006). I read these media stories as narratives, open to literary analysis, that allow us to pry open and critique Canada's dominant national security discourse. These national newspaper narratives, I argue, mobilize racialized signs of otherness that legitimate and naturalize national security discourses, even when accusations are withdrawn by officials. This raises urgent questions about the ways in which media may naturalize state violence against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian citizens and non-citizens within Canada's borders.

Exit Stage Left: Modelling Judicial Exits in Canada and Australia

by Matthew Kerby

Co-authored with Andrew Banfield, Australian National University
Paper presented at 2012 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.

Abstract Given the prestige and job security attached to the position of supreme court justice, it is puzzling that... more Abstract Given the prestige and job security attached to the position of supreme court justice, it is puzzling that these judges ever choose to vacate their seats on a voluntary basis. Using career data drawn from the Canadian Supreme and Australian High Courts, we examine which factors: personal, institutional, and political, are the most influential when determining voluntary judicial resignations at the highest level. We estimate a competing risks Cox proportional hazards model of judicial tenure to test hypotheses that personal factors (health, family) and institutional factors (satisfaction, workload) are the strongest determinants of various forms of voluntary exit in these two Westminster systems.

When Partisans are Attacked: Motivated Reasoning and the New Party System

by J. Scott Matthews

Presented at the Parties and Elections Workshop (St. John's), 2010
Accepted as part of an edited volume at UBC Press.

Could Polls Matter? Evaluating the Preconditions for Poll Effects

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Fred Cutler and Mark Pickup

The Mediated Horserace: Campaign Polls and Poll Reporting

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Mark Pickup and Fred Cutler
Forthcoming in the Canadian Journal of Political Science

Although “horserace journalism” is thought to be central to contemporary election news coverage and has generated a... more Although “horserace journalism” is thought to be central to contemporary election news coverage and has generated a great deal of criticism, there is no general model of the nature and dynamics of horserace journalism or “poll reporting.” This paper proposes and empirically evaluates such a model. The model builds on and extends John Zaller’s “theory of media politics” to consider specifically what citizens demand from polls and what journalists supply. Aside from the generic motivations of politicians, citizens and journalists, the model emphasizes the unique features of polls as objects of news coverage. The paper finds considerable support for the model in an analysis of newspaper coverage of horserace polls (that is, vote intention polls) in the Canadian general election of 2006. Our findings from this one case have potentially broad implications for our understanding of the relationship between polls and electoral democracy both empirically and normatively.

Même si le journalisme de course (“horserace journalism”) est vu comme étant une composante centrale de la couverture électorale et qu’il a généré sa part de critiques, il n’existe pas de modèle général de la nature et de la dynamique de ce type de journalisme. Cet article propose, et évalue empiriquement, un tel modèle. Prenant comme point de départ la « Theory of Media Politics » de John Zaller, ce modèle considère plus spécifiquement ce que les citoyens demandent des sondages et ce que les journalistes leurs procurent. Au-delà des motivations génériques des politiciens, citoyens et journalistes, le modèle met l’accent sur les caractéristiques uniques des sondages en tant qu’objet de couverture journalistique. L’article présente des résultats supportant considérablement le modèle à travers une analyse de la couverture des sondages par les journaux (c’est-à-dire des sondages sur les intentions de vote) durant l’élection générale canadienne de 2006. Nos résultats émanant de ce cas ont potentiellement des implications beaucoup plus grandes pour notre compréhension de la relation entre les sondages et la démocratie électorale, à la fois sur le plan empirique et sur le plan normatif.

The Horse(race)-Drawn Media (Band)Wagon

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Mark Pickup, Blake Andrew and Fred Cutler
Presented at the AGM of the Canadian Political Science Association, 2010

Turnout and Competitiveness in Space and Time

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Richard Johnston and Amanda Bittner
Presented at the AGM of the Midwest Political Science Association, 2007

Newfoundland and Labrador Votes: An Account of the Determinants of Vote Choice in the 2011 Election

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Amanda Bittner
Presented at the Newfoundland Politics and Policy Workshop (St. John's), 2011

Regionalism in Political Attitudes, 1993 to 2010

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Matthew Mendelsohn and Randy Besco
Presented at the State of the Federation Conference (Toronto), 2010
Under review as part of an edited volume at McGill-Queen's University Press.

The Courts/Parliament Trade-off: The View from the Canadian Election Study

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant and Janet Hiebert
Presented at the AGM of the Canadian Political Science Association, 2010

Social Capital, Age and Participation

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Richard Johnston
Presented at the AGM of the Canadian Political Science Association, 2004

Contextual Approaches to Human Security: Canada and Japan In the Balkans

by Nikolaos Tzifakis

International Journal, Vol. LXII, No. 3, Summer 2007, pp. 559-575 (with A. Huliaras).

http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/intj62§ion=44

Marketing and Efficacy: Does Political Marketing Empower Canadians?

by Royce Koop

In 'Political Marketing in Canada', eds. Alex Marland, Thierry Giasson and Jennifer Lees-Marshment, UBC Press 2012.

Understanding third-party advertising: An analysis of the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Canadian elections

by Erin Crandall

Co-authored with Andrea Lawlor
Canadian Public Administration (2011) Volume 54, Issue 4

Renzi_Infrastructure_Colloquium

by Alessandra Renzi

Alessandra Renzi "Infrastructure Must be Defended: biopolitics of mega events and the life of Homo Oeconomicus Canadensis after the 2008 financial crisis"

Paper given at the Colloquium “Foucault/Deleuze: A Neo-Liberal Diagram,” Ryerson University, Toronto, March 9, 2012.