Despite extensive literature on political participation, little is known about the role of motivational psychology. This study examines whether Locus of Hope (LoH), a personality characteristic that captures individual differences in strategies for goal attainment, is a predictor of political engagement. LoH theory considers both individual variations on self-assessed efficacy for goal attainment (high versus low efficacy) and whether efficacy is characterized by an internal (self-actualized) or external (inter-reliant) sense of agency. Using a novel measure of political goals, we examine the relationship between LoH and political engagement with a demographically representative sample of 784 Canadians. LoH and goal attainment were found to predict political engagement over and above measures of political efficacy and interest. The findings open new avenues of research that can help us better understand why and how some people engage in politics.

Longstanding public support for the Supreme Court of Canada is well-documented and contributes to its public legitimacy. However, the sources of this support and how vulnerable it may be to political factors or negative coverage of events are not well understood. In February of 2023, Justice Russell Brown took a leave of absence from the Supreme Court following a conduct complaint under review by the Canadian Judicial Council. Justice Brown retired from the bench in June of that year, before the CJC concluded its investigation. In the intervening period, media coverage of the events that prompted the attention from the CJC thrust the Court into the spotlight. Using data from an original two-wave survey experiment (n = 1,222) from May and November of 2023, we investigate whether perspectives toward the circumstances surrounding Brown’s retirement hurt perceptions of the Court’s legitimacy. We find that the event did not disrupt support for the Court over time but also point to the ways in which opinion toward the Court changed pre- and post-resignation. These findings suggest that support toward Canada’s high court is at present largely stable even in the case of negative coverage of a high-profile event. However, we also acknowledge the potential vulnerabilities that negative coverage of the Court may present.

Between 1980 and 2020, more than 120 countries—Canada included—enfranchised emigrants. While the diffusion of democratic practices is a well-established international phenomenon, we know little about the domestic process. How does international policy diffusion influence domestic debate? To explain the structure of Canadian debate about emigrant voting rights, we draw on concepts from the constructivist literature on international norms. In examining the structure of normative discourse within a domestic context, we argue that emulation involves three rhetorical elements that can generate disagreement: (1) setting peer countries to emulate; (2) identifying existing policy positions; and (3) envisioning the preferred policy position vis-à-vis peers. We find that in the Canadian debate about emigrant voting, contestation increased over time; where only peer groups were contested in the early debates leading up to the initial 1993 enfranchisement, all three elements were contested when discussing the removal of temporal restrictions two decades later.

L’usage du français au Québec est en recul (Commissaire à la langue française, 2024a; Statistique Canada, 2022), contribuant à la perception que la langue française est menacée. Cette situation soulève plusieurs questions quant à l’évolution temporelle de l’opinion publique relativement à cette perception et ses conséquences politiques. Dans cet article, nous examinons d’abord l’évolution de l’opinion publique concernant la perception selon laquelle la langue française serait menacée afin de quantifier les changements survenus entre 1993 et 2024. Ensuite, nous analysons les déterminants de ce sentiment de menace. Enfin, nous examinons les conséquences électorales en politique fédérale. Les résultats illustrent (1) qu’une forte majorité des citoyens estime que le français est menacé, (2) cette proportion a nettement augmenté à travers le temps et (3) ce sentiment est lié au choix électoral. Ces conclusions suggèrent que les enjeux linguistiques constituent un facteur crucial pour mieux saisir la politique québécoise et canadienne.

In 2022, an anti-vaccine mandate protest in Canada received millions of dollars in support through online crowdfunding. This event catalyzed political crowdfunding in Canada by demonstrating its ability to disseminate ideological discourse and mobilize collective action. Given its newfound visibility and impact, this study examines the landscape of political crowdfunding in Canada. We examined 60 campaigns from the legal, current events and political categories on the crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo and classified campaigns into: COVID-19-related topics, alternative media and free speech, climate change skepticism, and other political campaigns. Thematic analysis of the interactive discourse between campaign hosts and donors revealed that many campaigns were motivated by defending individual rights and freedoms amidst perceived government overreach, which fuels a distrust towards authority, including the government and mainstream media. Our study suggests that political crowdfunding empowers individuals to symbolically reflect their political and ideological beliefs through financial donations.

Agencies, boards, and commissions (ABCs) in Canada have a distinct character and set of governance dynamics compared with the conventional public service. ABCs are often conceived to deliver a particular service or regulate or adjudicate matters with some distance from the government of the day, yet (perhaps counter-intuitively) are among the few remaining sites of patronage-like appointments in Canada. This article compiles ABC appointment data (N = 2,248) from the Province of Alberta over two distinct periods—the Notley government (2015–2019) and the Kenney/Smith governments (2019–2024)—to explore the character and patterns of appointments. We find mixed evidence that appointments to ABCs with more formal autonomy are more likely to be politicized. Some metrics also suggest that the conservative party appointees are slightly more often politically connected, particularly in ABCs that reside in high priority policy areas for the appointing government, and in particular in crown corporations and regulatory agencies.

Cet article tente de mesurer les changements possibles survenus dans la structure de l’opinion publique sur la question de l’indépendance du Québec. Plus particulièrement, nous comparons deux modèles théoriques qui ont été au coeur de notre compréhension des appuis à l’indépendance, soit le modèle du choix rationnel associé aux coûts-bénéfices prospectifs de l’indépendance et le modèle socio-psychologique qui met de l’avant les griefs et revendications que le Québec ressent face au régime canadien. Notre étude permet aussi d’évaluer la pertinence de ces modèles à travers les générations entre 2014 et 2024; et de considérer de nouveaux facteurs explicatifs contemporains. Dans l’ensemble, nos résultats suggèrent une surprenante stabilité quant à l’importance des différents facteurs considérés pour comprendre les mécaniques expliquant l’appui ou non à l’indépendance du Québec. Les attitudes populistes, nativistes et autoritaristes apportent aussi un pouvoir explicatif additionnel, quoique limité.

Using constructivist representation theories, this article presents a framework for understanding how political staff shape representation. Using a survey of 366 parliamentary and constituency staff working for members of Parliament (MPs), I identify four key roles: proxies, liaisons, advisors, and gatekeepers. Proxies embody absent elected officials. Liaisons facilitate communication between elected officials and constituents. Advisors’ expertise and experience shape elected officials’ actions. Gatekeepers manage people’s and ideas’ access to elected officials. Constituency staff primarily act as proxies and liaisons, emphasizing local service and constituent connection. Parliamentary staff more often take on advisory and gatekeeping roles, which can influence elected officials’ perspectives. This framework provides insight into how staff mediate the representative process between elected officials and constituents. Staff actively shape who is heard and which issues gain attention, ultimately influencing the quality and inclusivity of democratic political representation. Thus, understandings of representation without staff are inherently incomplete.

Les recherches récentes montrent que les femmes en politique sont particulièrement exposées à l’hostilité en ligne. Lors des élections provinciales de 2022 au Québec, plusieurs politiciennes ont été victimes de menaces et d’abus en ligne et des cas similaires ont été observés à travers le Canada. Face à cette prévalence, cet article propose un cadre théorique féministe, s’appuyant sur les travaux de Nancy Fraser et le féminisme intersectionnel, dans le but de mieux comprendre les diverses formes de cyberviolence subies par les politiciennes et leurs effets sur leur participation politique. En combinant justice sociale et oppressions croisées, l’article offre une analyse des dynamiques de pouvoir et souligne l’importance de contrer ces violences pour préserver la démocratie et les droits fondamentaux des femmes.

The Viewpoint Alberta Consolidated Dataset is a novel resource for understanding political attitudes and behaviours in Alberta which includes over 10,000 interviews across nine waves in 5 years. The Viewpoint dataset combines both cross-sectional and longitudinal (panel) data on Albertans’ attitudes towards political parties, federalism, democracy, social movements, energy transitions, media and a range of issue areas. We demonstrate some of these potential applications in this note. To our knowledge, this dataset is the largest and most comprehensive dataset of political attitudes in a single province that has ever been publicly released. This matters because we know much less about provincial politics than national politics in Canada, despite many of the most interesting and important political developments taking place at the provincial level. Furthermore, by following the same respondents over multiple periods of time, we can develop a much greater understanding of individual-level changes across a range of key issue domains

Within a single month in 2024, media in three provinces wrote about government spending by special warrant. This is unusual public attention to an obscure financial instrument. Governor’s special warrants are a practical solution to the problem of government urgently needing to spend money in the public interest when the legislature cannot readily be convened to grant approval. We describe how special warrants are being used less in exigent circumstances and more as a convenience. This practice is evident across jurisdictions and the parties in power and is persistent over decades. This research note shows how legal grey holes and the accelerated pace of decision making can result in changes in the practice of government that go unrecognized in our understanding of law and constitutional convention. Using an original compendium of statutory provisions combined with historical analysis, we raise research questions about public finance and parliamentary constitutionalism in Canada.

Cet essai critique s’adresse aux coopérants volontaires potentiels et poursuit principalement un objectif didactique. Rédigé dans un langage accessible, il synthétise des réflexions critiques élaborées par l’auteur sur plusieurs décennies, en rapport avec le développement international tel qu’il est perçu depuis le Canada, et la coopération volontaire en particulier, en examinant leurs discours, intentions et leurs non-dits. L’auteur, anthropologue social spécialiste des populations marginales des hauteurs asiatiques, propose aux futurs coopérants une réflexion appuyée qui transcende les utopies intéressées promues par l’État et l’industrie du développement, ainsi que par son idéologie, le développementisme.