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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

Canadian Politics



A21(a) - Roundtable: Book Event – Jean-François Godbout’s “Lost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliament”

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Jean-François Godbout (Université de Montréal)

Roundtable: Book Event – Jean-François Godbout’s “Lost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliament”:

Jean-François Godbout (Université de Montréal)

Abstract: Lost on Division is the first book published by the University of Toronto’s new series Political Development: Comparative Perspectives edited by Robert Vipond (University of Toronto) and Jack Lucas (University of Calgary). In this book, Jean-François Godbout analyses more than two million individual votes recorded in the House of Commons and the Senate since Confederation to explain why party discipline is so high in Parliament today. He finds that the increase in partisanship over time can be linked to changes in the content of the legislative agenda, itself a product of more restrictive parliamentary rules instituted after 1900. These rules reduced the independence of private members, polarized voting along partisan lines, and undermined Parliament’s ability to represent distinct regional interests, resulting – among other things – in the rise of third parties. Bridging the scholarship on party politics, legislatures, and elections, this book builds a powerful case for bringing institutions back into our understanding of how party systems change. It represents a significant contribution to legislative studies, the political development literature, and the comparative study of parliaments. In this lunchtime event (food will be provided), Godbout will be introduced by Rob Vipond and Jack Lucas. He will then talk about the principal arguments of his book. This brief presentation will be followed by an opportunity for audience Q&A and discussion. This panel will be of interest to scholars of Canadian and Comparative politics, parties and election, and historical political science.




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