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Political Science Elections

Making Every Vote Count

Reassessing Canada's Electoral System

edited by Henry Milner

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jul 2004
Category
Elections, Canadian, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551112565
    Publish Date
    Feb 1999
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442602717
    Publish Date
    Jul 2004
    List Price
    $27.95

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Description

Among the political institutions inherited from Canada’s British past is the system by which people are elected to office. This electoral system, used by only a small minority of stable democracies, is usually referred to by a metaphor whose origins lie in the British passion for horse racing: first-past-the-post (FPTP). Yet FPTP is on the defensive even in countries with British institutions – starting with Britain itself, which has made important changes and is debating others. Australia and Ireland from the start adopted systems that significantly differed from FPTP. Even in the US, proportional (PR) systems are being discussed and, at the local level, being tried out. And in 1996 New Zealand went all the way and adopted the German form of PF. If New Zealand, the most British of Britain’s ex-colonies could turn its back on FPTP, it is not surprising that it has found favour in the new South Africa or among the democracies that emerged in the wake of the demise of Communism. Yet the debate over electoral system reform is largely absent in Canada despite the outcome of recent federal elections making Canada a textbook example of how FPTP can regionalize political party representation in Parliament. This sorely needed discussion will be fostered by this book, which brings the best up-to-date analyses and critiques from the best qualified observers to bear on the Canadian situation both from at home and abroad.

About the author

Henry Milner teaches political science at Vanier College, is an adjunct professor at Laval, a visiting fellow at Queen's, and co-editor of Inroads. He has studied electoral reform in New Zealand and published extensively on Scandinavian institutions.

Henry Milner's profile page

Editorial Reviews

This clear, crisply written, and well-rounded book will be a handy reference guide to those following what has become an important debate in contemporary Canadian politics.

<i>American Review of Canadian Studies</i>