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Law Election Law

Dynasties and Interludes

Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics

by (author) Lawrence LeDuc & Jon H. Pammett

with André Turcotte

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
Aug 2016
Category
Election Law, National, Democracy
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459733374
    Publish Date
    Aug 2016
    List Price
    $35.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554888863
    Publish Date
    Oct 2010
    List Price
    $80.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554887965
    Publish Date
    Oct 2010
    List Price
    $35.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459711662
    Publish Date
    Oct 2010
    List Price
    $9.99

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Description

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2016

An overview of the history of elections and voting in Canada, including minority governments, dynasties, and social movements.

Dynasties and Interludes provides a comprehensive and unique overview of elections and voting in Canada from Confederation to the most recent election. Its principal argument is that the Canadian political landscape has consisted of long periods of hegemony of a single party and/or leader (dynasties), punctuated by short, sharp disruptions brought about by the sudden rise of new parties, leaders, or social movements (interludes).

This revised and updated second edition includes an analysis of the results of the 2011 and 2015 federal elections as well as an in-depth discussion of the “Harper Dynasty.”

About the authors

Lawrence LeDuc is a political science professor at the University of Toronto and is co-author (with Jon H. Pammett) of Absent Mandate: Political Choice in Canada.

Lawrence LeDuc's profile page

Jon H. Pammett is a political science professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University and co-editor of several studies of Canadian elections, including, most recently, Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics.

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Jon H. Pammett's profile page

Judith I. McKenzie is a political science associate professor at the University of Guelph and is the author of Environmental Politics in Canada: Managing the Commons into the 21st Century.

André Turcotte's profile page

Excerpt: Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics (by (author) Lawrence LeDuc & Jon H. Pammett; with André Turcotte)

The Macdonald and Laurier Dynasties

Two political dynasties founded and sustained the Canadian dominion, established the country’s first party system, and produced the expectation by the voting public that strong leaders would emerge to control the nation’s affairs. These two political dynasties also established the building blocks around which subsequent elections would be won and lost. John A. Macdonald (Prime Minister from 1867-1874, and 1878-1891) fashioned the Conservative Party (then called the Liberal-Conservative Party) into the main vehicle for national government during the whole period from Confederation to 1896. During Macdonald’s lifetime, Conservatives had strength in all regions of the country and among all classes of voters, though they were particularly dependent for their finances on manufacturing, railway and banking interests. Wilfrid Laurier (Prime Minister from 1896-1911) created a mastery over the Canadian political system, and established the dominance of the Liberal Party which continued for much of the Twentieth Century. Laurier did this by virtue of his sweeping personal appeal in Quebec, and his mollification of commercial interests, together with appeals to traditional Liberal support among farmers and working class voters who were entering the eligible electorate in greater numbers with the expansion of the suffrage. Even though the Laurier Liberals were defeated in 1911, the basis of the Liberal dynasty had been laid so well that it survived the party’s ill fortunes during the First World War. Conservatives, starting with Borden and continuing with Meighen, Bennett, Diefenbaker, Clark and Mulroney, produced only interludes, despite election victories, sometimes decisive ones. King, (followed by St. Laurent), Trudeau (following Pearson) and Chrétien (with Martin), on the other hand, established and maintained Liberal dynasties. Legitimating the new Canadian Confederation was no easy task. For the architects of the agreement, led by Macdonald and his Quebec lieutenant, George-Etienne Cartier, the job had to be undertaken without a cohesive national political party to rely on. The first three elections -- 1867, 1872 and 1874 -- took place separately in the different provinces, in different months of the year. John A. Macdonald skillfully exploited his position as the popular architect of the Confederation agreement (popular at least in Ontario and Quebec) to obtain early victories in elections which established the legitimacy of the new state. His goal was to solidify a popular commitment to the Confederation gamble. Economic growth, railway building, and regional development were important reasons for supporting the Macdonald Conservatives. The Liberal opposition was initially in disarray. The fact that their leaders, including George Brown and Edward Blake, had joined with Macdonald and his Conservative colleagues to support Confederation had removed a major issue that might have allowed them to distinguish themselves and their party from the Tories. The main issue of national unity at that period was support for Confederation itself, and the main battleground was in the Maritimes. The success of anti-Confederate forces in the first elections in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia undermined the opposition’s ability to present a united front to the electorate. It also meant that the Liberals had to rely more on economic policy to distinguish themselves from the Conservatives. Attempts to do this by emphasizing free trade within North America were largely unsuccessful, as we shall see in this chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Rightly shows that after one or two elections we can’t be sure we’re experiencing a dynasty or trend.

Troy Media

Some Canadian political books, like governments, are around for an interlude. But every now and then, one comes along with enduring, long-term value. Dynasties and Interludes has assumed a permanent place on my desk.

Susan Delacourt

Dynasties and Interludes provides an account of federal elections in Canada that is both comprehensive and analytical. It is a must read for all who are interested in the changing patterns of politics in Canada.

Peter Russell

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