Category: Research

My first AMA on Reddit, Wednesday, Nov. 11

I have heard about Reddit’s AMA’s (ask me anything) for some time. I always thought that they were for famous people but for reasons not known, I am hosting an AMA for the subreddit /Canadapolitics on Wednesday, November 11, from 2- 3 PM. With the new Liberal government promising that the 2015 election would be… Continue reading My first AMA on Reddit, Wednesday, Nov. 11

Talking Election Ads At University of Calgary and Mount Royal University

I’m looking forward to giving two talks this week in Calgary on the role of election ads.  I’ll be  at University of Calgary on Wednesday, October 14 as part of the CMF Speaker Series and Mount Royal University on Thursday, October 16, as part of the SOMAR Speakers Series. If you are near by, stop by… Continue reading Talking Election Ads At University of Calgary and Mount Royal University

Photographs as agenda setters: the case of Alan Kurdi

Earlier this week, a remarkable photograph changed the nature of the Canadian election campaign. The death of a two year old boy, Alan Kurdi, whose body was washed up on a beach became a symbol of Canada’s inability or reluctance to deal with the Syrian refugee problem. Up to this point in the election, the… Continue reading Photographs as agenda setters: the case of Alan Kurdi

How data can be both truthful and deceptive

Data can be presented in a number of different ways and tables with their arrays of numbers often hide the real story.  The recent explosion of infographics suggests that perhaps people understand complex data when portrayed visually.  Edward R. Tufte, in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, and other works, shows how powerful data can be when… Continue reading How data can be both truthful and deceptive

Recipient of Seymour Martin Lipset Award for Best Book on Canadian Politics

I was thrilled to hear that a book I co-authored along with my colleagues, Patrick Fournier, Henk Vanderkolk, R. Kenneth Carty, and André Blais was the recipient of the Seymour Martin Lipset Award for the Best Book from the Canadian Politics section of the American Political Science Association. The book is called When Citizens Decide:  Lessons… Continue reading Recipient of Seymour Martin Lipset Award for Best Book on Canadian Politics

Government advertising and accountability

Recently, The Globe and Mail reported that Pierre Poilievre’s department paid civil servants overtime to produce feel-good ads about the Universal Child Care Benefit. The problem with this ad, like all the federal ads, is that they are beyond the scrutiny of parliament and therefore citizens. These youtube ads have rightly raised the ire of many… Continue reading Government advertising and accountability

The Crick Centre & the Value of a Public Conversation

I just contributed a piece on citizens’ assemblies to the Crick Centre at the University of Sheffield in the UK.  Its aim is to “study and promote the public understanding of politics” and to bridge the chasm between academics and non-academics.  It’s no surprise, then that the subtitle of the Centre is “Understanding Politics” I’ve always… Continue reading The Crick Centre & the Value of a Public Conversation

Discussing Citizens’ Assemblies in Chicago

I am looking forward to meeting with the Joyce Foundation in Chicago on January 21-22 to discuss the feasibility of citizens’ assemblies on issues such as  the election of governor, (s)election of judges and re-districting. Several American states, like Ohio, have commissions devoted to modernizing the state constitution.  Citizens’ assemblies, followed by a referendum, may be an… Continue reading Discussing Citizens’ Assemblies in Chicago