RESEARCH ON MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN CANADA

 

Regarding municipal elections and municipal democracy in general, there are three primary research centres:

 

1. The Canadian Municipal Barometer
    
2. The Canadian Municipal Election Study
    
3. LABEL – Laboratory on Local Elections

 

Other projects:

• Centre of E-Democracy, Internet Voting Project

 

Active researchers:

• Jack Lucas (University of Calgary) jack.lucas@ucalgary.ca
• Mike McGregor (Ryerson University) mmcgregor@ryerson.ca
• Zack Taylor (Western University) zack.taylor@uwo.ca
• Royce Koop (University of Manitoba) royce.koop@umanitoba.ca
• Aaron Moore (University of Winnipeg) aa.moore@uwinnipeg.ca
• Laura Stephenson (Western University) laura.stephenson@uwo.ca
• Sandra Breux (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique) sandra.breux@ucs.inrs.ca
• Anne Mévellec (University of Ottawa) anne.mevellec@uottawa.ca
• Jérôme Couture (Université Laval) jerome.couture@pol.ulaval.ca
• Nicole J. Goodman (Brock University) nicole.goodman@brocku.ca

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The Canadian Municipal Barometer

An annual survey of elected officials in municipalities of 9,000 residents or more.

Survey themes: state of democracy, fiscal health, economy, intergovernmental relations, issues, hours devoted to tasks of elected office, salary comparison, position before assuming office, opinion of the office, and ideological questions.

The Barometer is directed by Jack Lucas and has representatives in each province. Select works produced by Jack Lucas:

• Lucas, J. (2021). The ideological structure of municipal non-ideology. Urban Affairs Review. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10780874211038321
   
• Borwein, S., & Lucas, J. (2021). Municipal identity and city interests. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-021-09735-5
   
• Lucas, J., & Armstrong, D. A. (2021). Policy ideology and local ideological representation in Canada. Canadian Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423921000652
   
• Franceschet, A., Lucas, J., O'Neill, B., Pando, E., & Thomas, M. (2021). Editor fatigue: Can political science journals increase review acceptance rates? PS: Political Science and Politics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096521000858
   
• Lucas, J., McGregor, R. M., & Tuxhorn, K-L. (2021). Closest to the people? Incumbency advantage and the personal vote in non-partisan elections. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912921990751
   
• Lucas, J., Merrill, R., Blidook, K., Breux, S., Conrad, L., Eidelman, G., Koop, R., Marciano, D., Taylor, Z., & Vallette, S. (2021). Women's municipal electoral performance: An introduction to the Canadian Municipal Elections Database. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842392000102X
   
• Lucas, J. (2020). Do 'non-partisan' politicians match the partisanship of their constituents?Urban Affairs Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087420958074
   
• Lucas, J. & McGregor, R. M. (2020). Are city elections unique? Perceptions of electoral cleavages and social sorting across levels of government. Electoral Studies, 66(102165). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102165
   
• McGregor, R. M., Anderson, C., Bélanger, É., Breux, S., Lucas, J., Matthews, S., Mévellec, A., Moore, A., Pruysers, S., Stephenson, L., & Tolley, E. (2021). The Canadian Municipal Election Study. Frontiers in Political Science, 3(745331). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.745331
   
• Lucas, J. (2021). The size and sources of municipal incumbency advantage in Canada. Urban Affairs Review, 57(2), 373–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087419879234
   
• Armstrong, D., Lebo, M., & Lucas, J. (2020). Do COVID-19 policies affect mobility behaviour? Evidence from 75 Canadian and American cities. Canadian Public Policy, 46(2) 127–144. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2020-062
   
• Armstrong, D., & Lucas, J. (2020). Measuring and comparing municipal policy responses to COVID-19. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 53(2), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842392000044X
   
• Lucas, J. (2020). Reaction or reform? Subnational evidence on P.R. adoption from Canadian cities. Representation, 56(1), 89–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2019.1700154

 

The Canadian Municipal Election Study

The study, directed by Mike McGregor (https://www.cmes-eemc.ca), looks at eight large cities in Canada (including Montreal and Quebec City). Mike also does a great deal of work about Toronto.

• Canadian Municipal Election Study data
   
• McGregor, R. M., Anderson, C., Bélanger, É., Breux, S., Lucas, J., Matthews, S., Mévellec, A., Moore, A., Pruysers, S., Stephenson, L., & Tolley, E. (2021). The Canadian Municipal Election Study. Frontiers in Political Science, 3(745331). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.745331

Two books are available with a third in preparation:

• Lucas, J., & McGregor, R. M. (Eds.). (2021). Big city elections in Canada. University of Toronto Press.
   
• Bélanger, É., Anderson, C., & McGregor, R. M. (Eds.). (2022). Voting in Quebec municipal elections: A tale of two cities. University of Toronto Press.

A wide variety of articles related to municipal elections are available at http://www.mmcgregor.ca/other.

 

LABEL – Laboratory on Local Elections

LABEL is directed by Sandra Breux. Unlike the previous two research centres, LABEL also conducts qualitative studies.

Themes explored include accountability/Responsiveness, information, election by acclamation, incumbent candidates, a survey of 4,000 Quebec electors regarding municipal elections, elected officials in small municipalities, profile of Projet Montréal candidates, young people and municipal elections, electors' stress and health self-assessment and their electoral participation, gender and professionalization of elected officials and election campaigns.

• Breux, S., & Couture, J. (accepted). Circulation de l'information et définition de la démocratie dans certaines municipalités québécoises : points de vue des élus municipaux et de quelques acteurs clés. [Information circulation and definition of democracy in certain Quebec municipalities: viewpoints of elected officials and certain key actors]. Revue Politique et Société.
   
• Breux, S. (accepted). Les maires et leur rémunération : une enquête pancanadienne [Mayors and their remuneration: a pan-Canadian study]. Revue Politique et Société.
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J., & Koop, R. (2022). Does political information influence voter turnout at the municipal level?Canadian Journal of Urban Research = Revue canadienne de recherche urbaine, 31(1), 83–96
   
• McGregor, R. M., Anderson, C., Bélanger, É., Breux, S., Lucas, J., Matthews, S., Mévellec, A., Moore, A., Pruysers, S., Stephenson, L., & Tolley, E. (2021). The Canadian Municipal Election Study. Frontiers in Political Science, 3(745331). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.745331
   
• Lucas, J., Merrill, R., Blidook, K., Breux, S., Conrad, L., Eidelman, G., Koop, R., Marciano, D., Taylor, Z., & Vallette, S. (2021). Women's municipal electoral performance: An introduction to the Canadian Municipal Elections Database. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842392000102X
   
• Breux, S., & Vallette, S. (2020). Voter à l'échelle municipale au Québec : Significations et portée chez certains jeunes électeurs. [Voting at the municipal level in Quebec: Meanings and significance for certain young electors]. Revue Jeunes et Société, 5(1), 50–70. https://doi.org/10.7202/1070525ar
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J., & Koop, R. (2019). Influences on the number and gender of candidates in Canadian local elections. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423918000483
   
• Goodman, N., McGregor, M., Couture, J., & Breux, S. (2018). Another digital divide? Evidence that elimination of paper voting could lead to digital disenfranchisement: Elimination of paper voting in local elections. Policy & Internet, 10(2), 164–184. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.168
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J., & Goodman, N. (2017). Fewer voters, higher stakes? The applicability of rational choice for voter turnout in Quebec municipalities. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 35(6), 990–1009. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X16676272
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J., & Koop, R. (2017). Turnout in local elections: Evidence from Canadian Cities, 2004–2014. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 699–722. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842391700018X
   
• Couture, J., & Breux, S. (2017). The differentiated effects of health on political participation. The European Journal of Public Health, 27(4), 599–604. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckw245
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J. & Mévellec, A. (in press). Does the left-right axis matter at the municipal level? In M. McGregor (Ed.), A tale of two cities. University of Toronto Press.
   
• Couture, J., & Breux, S. (2021). The rise of a third party in Québec City. In J. Lucas & R. M. McGregor (Eds.), Big city elections in Canada. University of Toronto Press.
   
• Breux, S. (2019). Les élections municipales au Québec [Municipal elections in Quebec]. In J. P. Brady (Ed.), Introduction à la vie politique municipale québécoise [Introduction to Quebec municipal political life]. (pp. 63–88). Presses de l'Université Laval.
   
• Couture, J., Breux, S., & Goodman, N. (2017). Le vote par Internet augmente-t-il la participation électorale? [Does Internet voting increase electoral participation?]. In H. Loiseau & H. Waldispuehl (Eds.), Cyberespace et science politique : De la méthode au terrain [Cyberspace and political science: From method to the field]. (pp. 123–148). Presses de l'Université du Québec.

 

Internet Voting Project at the Centre for E-Democracy

The Internet Voting Project is led by Nicole J. Goodman. Some of Goodman's writings are the following:

• Goodman, N. J., & Spicer, Z. D. (2019). Administering elections in a digital age: Online voting in Ontario municipalities. Canadian Public Administration = Administration publique du Canada, 62(3), 369–392. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12342
   
• Goodman, N., McGregor, R. M., Couture, J., & Breux, S. (2018). Another digital divide? Evidence that elimination of paper voting could lead to digital disenfranchisement: Elimination of paper voting in local elections. Policy & Internet, 10(2), 164–184. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.168
   
• Spicer, Z. D., Goodman, N. J., & Olmstead, N. (2021). The frontier of digital opportunity: Smart city implementation in small, rural and remote communities in Canada. Urban Studies, 58(3), 535–558. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042098019863666
   
• Essex, A., & Goodman, N. J. (2020). Protecting electoral integrity in the digital age: Developing e-voting regulations in Canada. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 19(2), 162–179. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/elj.2019.0568
   
• Goodman, N. J., & Stokes, L. C. (2020). Reducing the cost of voting: An evaluation of Internet voting's effect on turnout. British Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 1155–1167. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123417000849
   
• Breux, S., Couture, J., & Goodman, N. (2017). Fewer voters, higher stakes? The applicability of rational choice for voter turnout in Quebec municipalities. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 35(6), 990‑1009. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X16676272
   
• Goodman, N. J., & Lucas, J. (2016). Policy priorities of municipal candidates in the 2014 local Ontario elections. Canadian Journal of Urban Research = Revue canadienne de recherche urbaine, 25(2), 35–47. https://cjur.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/cjur/article/view/44
   
• Wellsbury, N., & Goodman, N. J. (2015). Internet voting in Ontario: Time for overarching standards. Public Sector Digest.
   
• Goodman, N. J., & Pammett, J. H. (2015). The patchwork of Internet voting in Canada. 2014 6th International Conference on Electronic Voting: Verifying the Vote (EVOTE 2014), 13–18.

 

(Compiled with the assistance of Sandra Breux)