Overview

Emond Montgomery Publications is proud to launch its new university publishing program with The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada's Electoral System, a very timely examination of Canada's voting system by one of Canada's leading authorities on electoral reform. In a clear, accessible style, Dennis Pilon presents the various issues, debates, and consequences surrounding how we vote, and what our options are. Drawing on historical and comparative perspectives (from countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, Israel, and Italy, as well as his intimate knowledge of the 2005 referendum in British Columbia), Pilon explains why our current system fails to provide Canadians with proper democratic representation, and examines the myths and political influences that have held back change.

A must-read for anyone interested in or studying Canadian politics, this will be a welcome resource for study at many levels: Introductory Canadian Politics courses, upper-year undergraduate courses in elections and voting systems or provincial politics, as well as graduate level studies.

Top ∧Content Summary

• Chapter 1: Introducing the Politics of Voting
• Chapter 2: Why Voting Systems Matter
• Chapter 3: Investigating Plurality
• Chapter 4: Exploring Proportional Representation
• Chapter 5: Explaining Canadian and Comparative Voting System Choices
• Chapter 6: The Politics of Choosing
• Chapter 7: Debating the PR Alternatives: STV versus MMP
• Chapter 8: Debating Voting System Effects
• Chapter 9: Conclusion
• Glossary of Key Terms
• References
• Index

Top ∧About the Author

Dennis Pilon is an assistant professor of Political Science at The University of Victoria. In 2005/06 he was the Canada Research Chair Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. Before coming to the University of Victoria in 2006 he taught politics courses at York University, the University of Toronto and Trent University.

His research has focused primarily on issues of democratization and democratic reform in western countries in both contemporary and historical contexts. His published work includes contributions to the Journal of Canadian Studies, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Canadian Parliamentary Review and Labour/Le Travail, as well as reports for the Law Commission of Canada, the Centre for Social Justice, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.