Cameron D. Anderson

The Effects of Elections Canada's Campaign Period Advertising

Voter participation is widely viewed as invaluable by democratic theorists, and a large majority of members of the Canadian public believe that low turnout weakens Canadian democracy. In response to decreasing rates of turnout in federal elections, Elections Canada has run advertising campaigns during the last several election campaigns encouraging Canadians to participate by voting. Using Election Canadian Study data from 2006 and 2008, this note examines the effect of Elections Canadas advertisements upon turnout and the partisan outcome of elections. Results reveal that the ad campaigns have effects upon both factors. The ads increase turnout among segments of the population with traditionally low turnout rates and are associated with an overall decrease in the Conservative partys vote share.

Economic Voting and Multilevel Governance The Case of Toronto

Past work has shown that economic conditions influence electoral outcomes at multiple levels of government in Canada and in democratic states around the world. However, there is significant variation in the jurisdictional ability of different governments to influence economic conditions; in particular, municipal governments may be least able to influence the economy. As a result, voters may be less likely to hold municipal incumbents accountable for economic conditions than either provincial or federal politicians. Building on this discussion, this article explores several questions. First, do citizens differentiate between the impacts of different orders of government on economic conditions? Second, does the economy affect incumbent support in local elections? Finally, does knowledge of the jurisdictional responsibilities of the three levels of government condition economic effects at the municipal level in Canada? We consider these questions using individual-level data collected during the 2014 Toronto municipal election.

Persuasion, Partisanship and Evaluations of National Conditions and Governmental Impact: An Experimental Study

ABSTRACT The current study considers the circumstances under which opinions about national issue conditions and government impact on those conditions might be influenced. Using an experimental framework, we examine the effectiveness of messages on a variety of policy issues important to the 2015 Canadian Federal election campaign. The messages consist of a statement about the country’s performance on a variety of issues, accompanied by a relevant image, which together convey either a positive or negative message about issue conditions in Canada. We then evaluate the extent to which messages affect opinions about policy conditions in Canada as well as evaluations of government impact on these policy issues. Finally, we consider whether the effect of the messages is moderated by the partisan leanings of individual voters. We focus upon five policy areas that, we argue, were among the most germane to the 2015 election: the economy, health care, the environment, immigrants and minorities, and national security. Our findings have implications for the literature on issue-ownership, agenda-setting, opinion persuasion, and the attribution of responsibility for national performance.