[No Abstract Submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the impact of perceived personality traits of the political party leaders on voting decisions in the 2000 Canadian federal election, replicating Richard Johnston's research that is based on the 1997 election. Employing data from the 2000 Canadian Election Study (CES), the research uses Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis to estimate how evaluations of leader personality traits over two aggregated dimensions - competence and character - moved votes. The changes in the design of the 2000 CES from prior years created many difficulties in assessing voters' evaluations of the party leaders and limited the comparability of the results from the study. The key methodological differences are: (1) leaders were not evaluated individually; (2) it did not measure the degree of applicability of the trait labels; (3) it included significantly fewer leader personality questions, and (4) the "new ideas" variable does not fall squarely into either the competence and character domains and seems to favour the new Alliance Party leader. This study finds that leader effects are more critical to the parties struggling for their political survival. A counterfactual party leader-switching exercise suggests that the distance between the frontrunner parties and the others was too great for leader-switching effects to make a difference in determining which parties would form the government and the Official Opposition and whether the winning party would form a majority or minority government. Joe Clark improved his party's standing during the campaign and helped it to retain its official party status while evaluations of Stockwell Day declined. The relevance of judgements of Day and Clark on pre-election vote intentions moved in the same direction as voters' respective evaluations of the leaders over the campaign. This study confirms that campaigns can have an effect on voters. The study supports earlier research findings that suggests that Canadian elections are vulnerable to leader effects. Conventional wisdom that is driven by the media's focus on the personalities suggests that leaders are significant factors in Canadian federal elections, but the empirical research reported in this study and others before it suggest otherwise.

What is the meaning of the right to vote, and the concurrent right to play a meaningful role in the electoral process as guaranteed by s. 3 and informed by the equality provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? These questions, and whether the current Canada Elections Act adequately respects them are considered in light of jurisprudence concerning democratic rights including the Supreme Court's recent Figueroa decision. / The English Jenkins Commission is examined, as are the lessons to be learned from the experiences of Germany, South Africa, Italy, and New Zealand with proportional representation voting. At home, the tentative steps toward voting reform in Quebec, British Columbia, PEI, and the work of the Law Commission of Canada are discussed. Finally, basic goals for voting reform are suggested and measured against model recommendations. The prospects for reform ultimately depend on a rebalancing of the values of democracy and power.

This study examines the impact of perceived personality traits of the political party leaders on voting decisions in the 2000 Canadian federal election, replicating Richard Johnston's research that is based on the 1997 election. Employing data from the 2000 Canadian Election Study (CES), the research uses Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis to estimate how evaluations of leader personality traits over two aggregated dimensions - competence and character - moved votes. The changes in the design of the 2000 CES from prior years created many difficulties in assessing voters' evaluations of the party leaders and limited the comparability of the results from the study. The key methodological differences are: (1) leaders were not evaluated individually; (2) it did not measure the degree of applicability of the trait labels; (3) it included significantly fewer leader personality questions, and (4) the "new ideas" variable does not fall squarely into either the competence and character domains and seems to favour the new Alliance Party leader. This study finds that leader effects are more critical to the parties struggling for their political survival. A counterfactual party leader-switching exercise suggests that the distance between the frontrunner parties and the others was too great for leader-switching effects to make a difference in determining which parties would form the government and the Official Opposition and whether the winning party would form a majority or minority government. Joe Clark improved his party's standing during the campaign and helped it to retain its official party status while evaluations of Stockwell Day declined. The relevance of judgements of Day and Clark on pre-election vote intentions moved in the same direction as voters' respective evaluations of the leaders over the campaign. This study confirms that campaigns can have an effect on voters. The study supports earlier research findings that suggests that Canadian elections are vulnerable to leader effects. Conventional wisdom that is driven by the media's focus on the personalities suggests that leaders are significant factors in Canadian federal elections, but the empirical research reported in this study and others before it suggest otherwise. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

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This study argues that previous investigations of the gender gap have concentrated almost exclusively on the behaviour of women voters and have underestimated the electoral significance of men. Employing public opinion surveys and rational choice theory of coalitions, it contends that men's voting behaviour is a key factor in modern elections and that by investigating male voters as people affected by their gender, the gender gap can be better explained. The study finds that the relative importance of the gender gap in Canada may be declining as parties contending to form the government display less gender division in their support, and significant gender differences in the 1997 election are found only in the more extreme parties, like the New Democratic Party and, especially, the Reform Party. Significant gender-related support for the Liberal Party is found to be concentrated in the Trudeau era. The gender gap in Reform Party support is attributed to differences over capitalism, feminism and the use of force. A theoretical model of gender block behaviour is developed using rational choice theory, and the power of the male voting block is demonstrated. Cohesion, elasticity, positioning, size and turnout are identified as important measures of block power, with cohesion and elasticity the most important variable in the gender gap. The gender gap is shown to not be an automatic advantage for women, and that sometimes it works against women's interests. The final chapter discusses the effect of situational and socialisation constraints on attitutudes towards violence, 'masculinized opportunity' and the reactionary backlash against feminism.

This study argues that previous investigations of the gender gap have concentrated almost exclusively on the behaviour of women voters and have underestimated the electoral significance of men. Employing public opinion surveys and rational choice theory of coalitions, it contends that men's voting behaviour is a key factor in modern elections and that by investigating male voters as people affected by their gender, the gender gap can be better explained. The study finds that the relative importance of the gender gap in Canada may be declining as parties contending to form the government display less gender division in their support, and significant gender differences in the 1997 election are found only in the more extreme parties, like the New Democratic Party and, especially, the Reform Party. Significant gender-related support for the Liberal Party is found to be concentrated in the Trudeau era. The gender gap in Reform Party support is attributed to differences over capitalism, feminism and the use of force. A theoretical model of gender block behaviour is developed using rational choice theory, and the power of the male voting block is demonstrated. Cohesion, elasticity, positioning, size and turnout are identified as important measures of block power, with cohesion and elasticity the most important variable in the gender gap. The gender gap is shown to not be an automatic advantage for women, and that sometimes it works against women's interests. The final chapter discusses the effect of situational and socialisation constraints on attitutudes towards violence, 'masculinized opportunity' and the reactionary backlash against feminism. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Divided government in Canada refers to the common situation when the federal and provincial governments are held by different political parties. The study of divided government can aid in the understanding of voter behaviour. The thesis reviews the relevant literature on divided government, split-ticket voting and party identification in Canada and the United States. From the literature several voter strategies are extracted that describe the possible individual level processes that result in the aggregate outcome of divided government. This linkage, between individual decisions and collective outcomes, is crucial to understanding divided election outcomes and it is to the exploration of this concept that the thesis contributes. Using a dataset of party vote shares in provincial and federal elections from 1904 to 2003, the thesis looks for aggregate effects of the individual level strategies that it identifies. The thesis argues that divided government in Canada is a result of staggered election timing and policy learning across levels which combine to produce a cyclical effect in election results.

Divided government in Canada refers to the common situation when the federal and provincial governments are held by different political parties. The study of divided government can aid in the understanding of voter behaviour. The thesis reviews the relevant literature on divided government, split-ticket voting and party identification in Canada and the United States. From the literature several voter strategies are extracted that describe the possible individual level processes that result in the aggregate outcome of divided government. This linkage, between individual decisions and collective outcomes, is crucial to understanding divided election outcomes and it is to the exploration of this concept that the thesis contributes. Using a dataset of party vote shares in provincial and federal elections from 1904 to 2003, the thesis looks for aggregate effects of the individual level strategies that it identifies. The thesis argues that divided government in Canada is a result of staggered election timing and policy learning across levels which combine to produce a cyclical effect in election results. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate