Election campaigning never stops. That is the new reality of politics and government in Canada, where everyone from staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office to backbench MPs practise political marketing and communication as though each day were a battle to win the news cycle. Permanent Campaigning in Canada examines the growth and democratic implications of political parties’ relentless search for votes and popularity and what constant electioneering means for governance. This is the first study of a phenomenon – including the use of public resources for partisan gain – that has become embedded in Canadian politics and government.

Alex Marland (Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland) was a public servant in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from 2003 to 2006. He coedited First Among Unequals: The Premier, Politics, and Policy in Newfoundland and Labrador and coauthored the textbook Inside Canadian Politics. His book Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control won the Donner Prize for best public policy book by a Canadian and the Atlantic Book Award for scholarly writing.

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Anna Lennox Esselment is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.

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The existing literature on this topic reflects a series of disparate thoughts about political behaviour, political communication, and public administration - thoughts that the editors and contributors successfully unite under a common set of theoretical assumptions and methodological commitments.

British Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 33.1

The editors have collected essays that examine the rise of permanent campaigning in Canada and its implications for politics and governing … Though the authors of the essays appear to connect most of these developments to Harper, most suggest the long-term implications are yet to be seen, speculating that Justin Trudeau’s “sunny ways” might bring some changes. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

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