Operative Words

Roger Stone has a Netflix documentary about him. David Axelrod’s memoir is a New York Times bestseller. While American political operatives have long been the subject of media interest and lore, their Canadian counterparts tend to work in the shadows and live in relative anonymity.

Condensed election cycles, more stringent spending limits, and third parties have created quieter, less visible campaign leadership north of the border. Yet the strategies, policy deliberations, and communications tactics used while stumping leave lasting and often foundational impacts on the governments we elect.

Canadians are due for a thorough and serious look at campaigns and the decision-makers who shape them. With Inside the Campaign: Managing Elections in Canada, the political scientists Alex Marland and Thierry Giasson aim to provide exactly that. Theirs is the latest instalment in UBC Press’s Communication, Strategy, and Politics series, a contribution...