Puppeteering and Electioneering

Conventional wisdom says that Canadian electoral politics is increasingly centralized. Trends in marketing, technology, and fundraising all favour consolidation, leading parties to adopt a franchise model where candidates serve as ambassadors of a national brand rather than as independent actors. The media and voters overwhelmingly look through a national lens, with the reputation or perceived quality of local candidates being the main driver of votes for only as little as 4 percent of the electorate. It’s with this centralizing trend in mind that the notion of a book focused on local campaigning feels surprising, even unfashionable. If voters aren’t paying attention to their own candidates, why should political scientists — or general readers, for that matter?

Alex Marland of Memorial University and Thierry Giasson of Université Laval set out to answer that question with Inside the Local Campaign: Constituency Elections in Canada, their third consecutive...