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Undisciplined Constituency Campaign Behaviour in Canadian Federal Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2022

Jacob Robbins-Kanter Open the ORCID record for Jacob Robbins-Kanter [Opens in a new window]
Jacob Robbins-Kanter*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Studies, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7, Canada
*
Corresponding author. Email: jacob.robbins-kanter@ubishops.ca
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Abstract

Scholarly research suggests that Canadian election campaigns are centralized affairs, with party headquarters managing a disciplined campaign organization across 338 federal constituencies. At the same time, local realities can incentivize constituency campaigns to deviate from their parties. This article examines the extent of local campaign discipline, given these tensions between parties’ centralizing compulsions and countervailing forces that militate against party cohesion. The article relies on original data to identify and explain the extent of local campaign behaviour that defies central party preferences and directives. It draws from interviews with 87 former candidates and eight party strategists, as well as observational data gathered from 10 constituency campaigns during the 2019 federal election. The findings indicate a relatively high level of undisciplined constituency campaign behaviour during the 2015 and 2019 elections. The article contends that this behaviour stems from insubordination, innovation and incompetence within constituency campaigns.

Résumé

Résumé

Les recherches universitaires suggèrent que les campagnes électorales canadiennes sont fortement centralisées, les sièges des partis gérant une organisation de campagne disciplinée dans 338 circonscription fédérales. En même temps, les réalités locales peuvent inciter les campagnes de circonscriptions à s'écarter de la ligne de parti. Cet article examine l'étendue de la discipline des campagnes locales, compte tenu des tensions entre les compulsions centralisatrices des partis et les forces centrifuges qui militent contre la cohésion du parti. L'article s'appuie sur des données de première main pour déterminer et expliquer l'ampleur du comportement des campagnes locales qui défient les préférences et les directives du parti central. Il s'appuie sur des entretiens avec 87 anciens candidats et huit stratèges du parti, ainsi que sur des données d'observation recueillies dans dix campagnes de circonscription à l'occasion de l'élection fédérale de 2019. Les résultats indiquent un niveau relativement élevé de comportement indiscipliné dans les campagnes de circonscription lors des élections de 2015 et 2019. L'article soutient que ce comportement découle de l'insubordination, de l'innovation et de l'incompétence au sein des campagnes de circonscription.

Keywords

party disciplinelocal campaignspolitical partiesparticipant observationCanadaDiscipline de particampagnes localespartis politiquesobservation participanteCanada
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 444 - 466
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Canadian Political Science Association (l’Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique

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