The recent string of minority governments has reminded Canadians that voting behaviour has serious consequences – on the composition of government as well as on the direction of public policy. Understanding the underlying meaning of election results is a key issue for policy makers and for students and scholars of politics. But can voting behaviour be explained, given that each vote represents the influence of countless impressions, decisions, and attachments?

Voting Behaviour in Canada reveals the challenges of understanding election results as leading young scholars of political behaviour piece together a comprehensive portrait of the modern Canadian voter. By systematically exploring long-standing attachments, short-term influences, and proximate factors (campaign issues and poll results), the contributors offer a multifaceted analysis of voting behaviour that incorporates the insights of theories developed to illuminate the influence of certain factors. Theoretically grounded and methodologically advanced, Voting Behaviour in Canada sheds new light on the choices we make as citizens and provides important insights into recent national developments.