Conventional Choices?
Conventional Choices?
Maritime Leadership Politics, 1971–2003
party. Leaders symbolize their party and are a primary factor in
election outcomes. While much is known about the selection of national
party leaders, less is known about the provincial selection process,
particularly in the Maritimes. Breaking new ground, Conventional
Choices examines twenty-five different leadership elections in
three maritime provinces. The analysis draws on an extraordinarily rich
data set spanning thirty-two years to explore the backgrounds,
attitudes, and motivations of those who select party leaders. It is an
impressive study that offers fresh insights into leadership selection
and Maritime party politics.
Awards
- 2008, Shortlisted - Donald Smiley Prize, Canadian Political Science Association
A monumental achievement of impeccable scholarship. Conventional Choices combines astute quantitative analysis of a remarkably wide-ranging data set with a thorough familiarity with the secondary literature of Maritime (and Canadian) politics and an encyclopaedic culling of newspaper sources. The analysis is never less than sure-footed and the conclusions are insightful. It will take its place among the key contributions to Maritime politics and to the study of leadership conventions.
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
1 Choosing Leaders
2 The Conventions
3 From J. Buchanan to A. Buchanan: Candidates and Voters
4 Tourists or Partisans? Political Background and ElectorEngagement
5 Leadership Election Support Patterns: Friends and Neighbours?
6 Town versus Country: Urban Rural Divisions
7 Brothers and Sisters? Gender-Based Voting at Party Conventions
8 Inter- and Intraparty Attitudinal Differences
9 Rebels without a Cause? Supporters of Fringe Candidates
10 Going My Way? "Delivering" Votes after the FirstBallot
11 Prince Edward Island and the Garden Myth
12 New Brunswick: The Politics of Language
13 Nova Scotia: The Challenge of Social Democracy
14 The End of the Affair? Political Scientists and the DelegatedConvention
15 Conclusion
Appendix: Leadership Election Profiles for Nova Scotia, NewBrunswick, and Prince Edward Island
Notes
Bibliography
Index
