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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

Political Behaviour/Sociology



F10(a) - Workshop: Experiments in Political Science 1

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Semra Sevi (Université de Montréal)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Adrienne Davidson (University of Toronto)

Citizen’s Assessment of Voting Systems: André Blais (Université de Montréal), Semra Sevi (Université de Montréal), Carolina Plescia (University of Vienna)
Abstract: Existing research on citizens’ assessment of voting systems are broad and limited. In this study, we use an innovative experimental design in which we ask respondents to respond to six different possible election outcomes ahead of the 2019 Canadian federal election. In each case, a vignette randomly indicates the percentage of votes and seats for each party. After each vignette, respondents are asked to evaluate how satisfied they are with each scenario. In this paper, we report whether citizens are generally more positive about the scenarios where the results are more proportional and to what extent their assessments are influenced by partisan preferences.


Do Voters Reward Incumbents for Public Security Policies? A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Military Occupation of 13 Slums in Rio de Janeiro: Fernando Feitosa (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: Although the retrospective voting literature argues the existence of reward and sanction mechanisms, works on security policies have so far focused on the latter (sanction) mechanism. This is problematic because it prevents an understanding of whether incumbents can secure or even augment their electoral support by implementing policies that make citizens’ life more secure. Furthermore, few studies in the literature explore the electoral consequences of public security interventions in compulsory voting settings, where citizens most likely affected by public violence cannot abstain without a penalty. Levering an unique event in Rio de Janeiro, the military occupation of 13 slums in 2008 and 2009, in this paper I examine how much citizens rewarded the incumbent party for that occupation. I make use of official electoral results in four state elections (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) and a quasi-experimental approach (synthetic control) to estimate the effect of the military intervention on incumbent support. I find a positive effect of the military occupation of 13 slums on support for the incumbent party.


Diversity in Socialization Dynamics: A Field Experiment on the Impact of Civic Education Across Different Social Backgrounds: Valérie-Anne Mahéo (McGill University)
Abstract: Turnout rates are low, unequal and declining in many Western democracies. In fact, young people are less likely to vote nowadays, compared to previous generations. But some youth are less likely to turn out to vote, especially those from socio-economically under-privileged backgrounds. Scholars have paid increasing attention to the socialization of children, to understand where and how contemporary children learn politics, and civic education programs have been widely used in schools to stimulate the political development of children. However, we still have relatively little causal evidence about the impact of these programs on children’s political development, and whether the programs have equal benefits for all children. The main questions addressed in this study is whether civic education can help to mitigate political inequalities, or if it contributes to reproduce or even to exacerbate political inequalities? Hence, this study aims to assess the causal and differential effects of civic education for students coming from different social backgrounds – i.e. children from socio-economically privileged or under-privileged families, but also from native or immigrant families. Using a randomized field experiment in 38 elementary schools, with a panel survey with over 2,500 students and their parents, I investigate the causal effects of a civic education program offered at school on students’ political attitudes and behaviors, in the medium and long run, and I examine the role of parents in facilitating or limiting the effects of the civic education program.


What Voting Rules Do Citizens Prefer?: Gabrielle Péloquin-Skulski (Université de Montréal), André Blais (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: The electoral system lies at the heart of the democratic process. In Canada, there is an ongoing debate about which system would best serve the general public. Although there exists a rich literature on the consequences of different electoral systems, very few studies examine the preferences of citizens regarding the type of vote they can cast, that is the rules that establish how people can express their views about the parties and candidates on the ballot. This study addresses the following questions: What voting rules do citizens prefer and why? To empirically investigate preferences towards voting rules, we conducted a within-subject laboratory experiment with nearly 200 participants in the run up to the recent 2019 Canadian federal election. Participants were asked to vote in mock elections successively (in random order) using each of the three following voting rules; single vote, ranking and approval voting. After voting and being informed about the election results, participants indicated their level of satisfaction with the voting rule. This study will provide additional insight into the factors that explain why citizens like or dislike the various voting systems.


A Picture Isn’t Always Worth 1000 Words: The Impact of Stimulus Delivery Mode in Experimental Research: Jason Roy (Wilfrid Laurier University), Shane Singh (University of Georgia), Patrick Fournier (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: This research draws upon evidence from an online experiment to assess how variation in the way in which the experimental treatment is delivered influences outcomes. To do so, we randomly assign participants to one of three treatments: graphical presentation of the experimental stimulus; textual presentation of the experimental stimulus; a combination of graphical and textual presentation of the experimental stimulus. Post-exposure behaviour and treatment information retention is then compared against a control group as well as across treatments. Our expectation is that participants will be least receptive of the graph only treatment, suggesting that researchers must consider not only which stimuli to include within their experimental designs, but also how the stimuli is presented.




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