Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T12:30:00.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legislative Party Switching and the Changing Nature of the Canadian Party System, 1867–2015

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2018

Semra Sevi ,
Antoine Yoshinaka  and
André Blais
Semra Sevi*
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
Antoine Yoshinaka*
Affiliation:
University at Buffalo, SUNY
André Blais*
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
*
Département de science politique, Université de Montréal, 3150 rue Jean-Brillant, Montreal QC, H3 T 1N8, email: semra.sevi@umontreal.ca
Deparment of Political Science, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 418 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, email: antoiney@buffalo.edu
Département de science politique, Université de Montréal, 3150 rue Jean-Brillant, Montreal QC, H3 T 1N8, email: andre.blais@umontreal.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the phenomenon of party switchers in the Canadian House of Commons. With the most extensive dataset on party-switching MPs (1867–2015), we answer the following questions: What are the electoral trajectories of party switchers? Have their prospects changed over time? We assess whether the historical dynamics of the Canadian party system explain changes in the incidence and fate of party switchers since 1867, hypothesizing that both the rate of party switching and the electoral fortunes of floor crossers decline over time. The evidence accords with our second hypothesis more strongly than our first. Party switching has become slightly less common, but the electoral consequence has become much more severe.

Résumé

Dans le présent article, nous examinons le phénomène des députés qui abandonnent leur formation politique à la Chambre des communes du Canada. Disposant de l'ensemble de données le plus complet sur les députés transfuges (1867–2015), nous répondons aux questions suivantes : quelles sont les trajectoires électorales de ces transfuges? Leurs perspectives ont-elles changé au fil du temps ? Nous évaluons si la dynamique historique du système de partis canadien explique les changements dans l'incidence et le sort des transfuges depuis 1867, partant de l'hypothèse qu'aussi bien le taux d'abandon que leurs destinées électorales diminuent avec le temps. Les éléments de preuve s'accordent avec notre deuxième hypothèse plus qu'avec notre première. Les abandons de parti sont devenus un peu moins fréquents, mais les conséquences électorales beaucoup plus graves.

Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 665 - 695
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2016 and 2017 Canadian Political Science Association Meetings in Calgary and Toronto and at the 2017 Making Electoral Democracy Work Annual Meeting in Montréal. We would like to thank the editors and the journal's anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions as well as Vincent Arel-Bundock, Christopher Cochrane, Ruth Dassonneville, Jean-François Godbout and Can Mekik.

References

Aldrich, John H. 1995. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Aldrich, John H. and Bianco, William T.. 1992. “A Game-Theoretic Model of Party Affiliation of Candidates and Office Holders.” Mathematical and Computer Modelling 16: 103–16.Google Scholar
Cairns, Alan C. 1968. “The Electoral System and the Party System in Canada, 1921 1965.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 1 (1): 55–80.Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth. 1988. “Three Canadian Party Systems: An Interpretation of the Development of National Politics.” In Party Democracy in Canada. Perlin, G.C., ed., Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth R., ed. 1992. Canadian political party system. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth R. 2002. “The Politics of Tecumseh Corners: Political Parties as Franchise Organizations.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 35: 723–45.Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth R. 2013. “Has brokerage politics ended? Canadian parties in the new century in Parties.” In Elections, and the Future of Canadian Politics, ed. Bittner, Amanda and Koop, Royce. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth R., Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Chhibber, Pradeep and Kollman, Ken. 2009. The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W. 1987. The Efficient Secret. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell J., Farrell, David M. and McAllister, Ian. 2011. Political Parties & Democratic Linkage: How Parties Organize Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Desposato, Scott W. 2006. “Parties for Rent? Ambition, Ideology, and Party Switching in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies.” American Journal of Political Science 50: 62–80.Google Scholar
Docherty, David. 1997. Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa: Life in the House of Commons. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Docherty, David. 2011. “The Canadian Political Career Structure: From Stability to Free Agency.” Regional and Federal Studies 21 (2): 185–203.Google Scholar
Evans, Kevin, Peterson, Rodolfe and Hadley, Nathan. 2012. “Principled or Opportunist? Perceptions of Arlen Specter and His Party Switch during the 2010 Midterm Election.” American Politics Research 40: 880–902.Google Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 2009. Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power. 2nd ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Geddis, Andrew. 2002. “Gang Aft A-Gley: New Zealand's Attempt to Combat ‘Party Hopping’ by Elected Representatives.” Election Law Journal 1 (4): 557–71.Google Scholar
Glasser, Jack M. 2001. “When Legislators Change Sides: The Implications of Party Defections in the South.” In Eye of the Storm: The South and Congress in an Era of Change, ed. Kuzenski, John C., Morelan, Lauren W. and Steed, Robert P.. Westport CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Godbout, Jean-François and Højland, Bjørn. 2011. “Legislative voting in the Canadian parliament.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 44 (2): 367–88.Google Scholar
Godbout, Jean-François and Højland, B.. 2013. “The Emergence of Parties in the Canadian House of Commons (1867–1908).” Canadian Journal of Political Science 46 (4): 773–97.Google Scholar
Godbout, Jean-François and Højland, Bjørn. 2017. “Unity in Diversity? The Development of Political Parties in the Parliament of Canada, 1867–2011.” British Journal of Political Science 47: 545–69.Google Scholar
Goodyear-Grant, Elizabeth. 2013. Gendered News: Media Coverage and Electoral Politics in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Grose, Christian R. 2004. “Is it Better to Join the Majority? The Electoral Effects of Party Switching by Incumbent Southern State Legislators, 1972 to 2000.” American Politics Review 25: 79–98.Google Scholar
Harper, Tim. 2013. “MP Brent Rathgeber leaves Conservative fold over lack of accountability.” The Star (Toronto), June 6.Google Scholar
Heller, William B. and Mershon, Carol. 2005. “Party Switching in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.” Journal of Politics 67: 536–59.Google Scholar
Kam, Christopher J. 2009. Party Discipline and Parliamentary Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kerevel, Yann P. 2017. “The Costs and Benefits of Party Switching in Mexico.” Latin American Politics and Society 59: 28–51.Google Scholar
Library of Parliament. History of Federal Elections since 1867. http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=G (May 5, 2017).Google Scholar
Mershon, Carol and Heller, William B.. 2003. “Party Switching and Political Careers in the Spanish Congress of Deputies.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar
Morton, Desmond. 2006. “A Note on Party Switchers.” Canadian Parliamentary Review 29 (2): 4–8.Google Scholar
Müller, Wolfgang C., and Strom, Kaare, eds. 1999. Policy, Office, or Votes? How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Müller, Wolfgang C. and Strøm, Kaare, eds. 2000. Coalition Governments in Western Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Narud, Hanne Marthe and Valen, Henry. 2008. “Coalition Membership and Electoral Performance.” In Cabinets and Coalition Bargaining: The Democratic Life Cycle in Western Europe, ed. Strøm, Kaare, Müller, Wolfgang C. and Bergman, Torbjörn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Nokken, Timothy P. and Poole, Keith T.. 2004. Congressional Party Defection in American History. Legislative Studies Quarterly 29 (4): 545–68.Google Scholar
O'Malley, Kady. 2015. “Eve Adams, former Conservative MP, joins Liberal Party.” CBC News, February 9.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard and Mackie, Thomas T.. 1983. “Incumbency in Government: Liability or Asset?” In Western European Party Systems, ed. Daalder, Hans and Mairs, Peter. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Rossignol, Michel. 1987. Crossing the Floor and the Party System. Library of Parliament Research Branch, 1–25.Google Scholar
Savoie, Donald. 1999. Governing from the Centre: The Concentration of Power in Canadian Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, Joseph A. 1991. Political Parties and the Winning of Office. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Snagovsky, Feodor. 2015. “Party Switching in the Canadian House of Commons.” Master's thesis, University of Ottawa, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Snagovsky, Feodor and Kerby, Matthew. Forthcoming. “The Electoral Consequences of Party Switching in Canada: 1945–2011.” Canadian Journal of Political Science.Google Scholar
Thames, Frank C. 2007. “Discipline and Party Institutionalization in Post-Soviet Legislatures.” Party Politics 13: 456–77.Google Scholar
Underhill, Frank H. 1935. “The Development of National Political Parties in Canada.” Canadian Historical Review 16 (4), 367–87.Google Scholar
Yoshinaka, Antoine. 2016. Crossing the Aisle: Party Switching by US Legislators in the Postwar Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zielinski, Jakub, Slomczynski, Kazimierz M. and Shabad, Goldie. 2005. “Electoral Control in New Democracies: The Perverse Incentives of Fluid Party Systems.” World Politics 57: 365–95.Google Scholar
Zytaruk, Tom. 2008. Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story. Madeira Park BC: Harbour.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Sevi et al. supplementary material 1

Online Appendix

Download Sevi et al. supplementary material 1(File)
File 96.7 KB