Leadership, Representation, and Elections: Essays in Honour of John C. Courtney

Commissioned to honour the distinguished career of University of Saskatchewan Professor John Courtney, Leadership, Representation, and Election addresses a range of topics of central importance to government and politics in contemporary Canada. Beginning with an overview of Courtney's contribution to the field of Canadian politics, editors Hans Michelmann, Donald C. Story, and Jeffrey S. Steeves bring together an impressive list of scholars to discuss a variety of issues representing the strengths of Courtney's work. Topics explored include: the transformation of Canadian parties, the impact of party leaders on the electoral fortunes of their parties, new avenues for public involvement in the policy-making process, Royal Commissions, opinion polls, access to information, the malaise of Canadian democracy, institutional reform, and indigenous nationalism. Timely and engaging, this impressive collection honours an important scholar and makes a valuable contribution to the field. Commissioned to honour the distinguished career of University of Saskatchewan Professor John Courtney, Leadership, Representation, and Election addresses a range of topics of central importance to government and politics in contemporary Canada. Beginning with an overview of Courtney's contribution to the field of Canadian politics, editors Hans Michelmann, Donald C. Story, and Jeffrey S. Steeves bring together an impressive list of scholars to discuss a variety of issues representing the strengths of Courtney's work. Topics explored include: the transformation of Canadian parties, the impact of party leaders on the electoral fortunes of their parties, new avenues for public involvement in the policy-making process, Royal Commissions, opinion polls, access to information, the malaise of Canadian democracy, institutional reform, and indigenous nationalism. Timely and engaging, this impressive collection honours an important scholar and makes a valuable contribution to the field Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Contributors 9 Introduction 13 Leadership Politics and the Transformation of Canadian Parties 28 Are Party Leaders Becoming More Important to Vote Choice in Canada? 51 Declining Political Survival among Parliamentary Party Leaders, 1867–2005 72 Citizens Speaking for Themselves: New Avenues for Public Involvement 93 Royal Commissions and the Policy Cycle in Canada: The Case of Health Care 122 Canada’s New Elections Act and Citizen Access to Opinion Poll Information 145 The Malaise of Canadian Democracy: What Is It? How Is It to Be Explained? What Can We Do about It? 166 Institutional Reform: The Grass Isn’t Always Greener on the Other Side 188 Indigenous Nationalism and the Nation State 206