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Political Science General

Accountability and Responsiveness at the Municipal Level

Views from Canada

edited by Sandra Breux & Jérôme Couture

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Jul 2018
Category
General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773553750
    Publish Date
    Jul 2018
    List Price
    $40.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773553286
    Publish Date
    Jul 2018
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773553293
    Publish Date
    Jul 2018
    List Price
    $40.95

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Description

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 the authors

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

Sandra Breux's profile page

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

Jérôme Couture's profile page