Elections and Outcomes in the United States and

CanadaNational Council for the Social Studies 2016 Conference

Washington, D.C.December 2, 2016

Who is Chris Sands?• Senior Research Professor and Director of the Center for Canadian Studies at the

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a graduate division of Johns Hopkins University• G. Robert Ross Distinguished Visiting Professor of Canada-U.S. Business and

Economic Relations, College of Business and Economics, Western Washington University• Senior Associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies• Board member at the Canada-U.S. Law Institute at Case Western Reserve

University• Former Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute & the George W. Bush Center

Comparative Politics• Similar countries, so explain a

difference• Different countries, so explain a

similarity• Like learning a foreign language,

this can help you understand your own better

Two National Elections

Canada: October 2015• Parliamentary• Five federal parties• Public Financing, Limits• Simple Ballot, same day• Millennial Generation Rising• Globalization, Innovation, low

commodity prices slow recovery

United States: November 2016• Presidential, Congressional• Two major parties, two minor• Private Financing, Few Limits• Complex ballot, electronic voting• Millennial Generation Rising• Globalization, Innovation slow

recovery

Canada: Features of Interest• People elect a parliament, parliament

elects a government• Cabinet drawn from MPs• Loyal Opposition, 12 seats for official

party status• Party discipline• Prime Minister as Head of

Government, not Head of State• In 2015, 11 week campaign was

Canada’s longest

CanadaAt a glance:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/parliamentarians/en/partystandings

Canada: Questions for discussion• What is the political role of the French-language minority?• How do public financing and a shorter election campaign affect

politics?• Elections Canada and provincial election administrators• How did Canadians view international trade, energy and the

environment in the 2015 election?• How is the Canadian debate over trade and immigration policy

different?

Free DataNanos Research

http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/opinion

United StatesAt a glance:

http://www.fec.gov/portal/presidential.shtml

Free Datahttp://www.people-press.org/2016/08/18/1-voters-general-election-preferences/

Comparison Questions• Both countries elect their chief

executive (US President or Canadian Prime Minister) indirectly. How, and why?• Both Trudeau’s Liberal Party (39.5%)

and Trump (47.5%) won with less than 50 percent of the popular vote. How does this affect the popular legitimacy of the government in each country?

Comparison Questions• In 2015, Canada chose a young (43)

PM; in 2016, the two major party candidates for president were Baby Boomers (Clinton 69, Trump 70). Yet in both countries, Millennial generation voters were the largest voting block in the electorate for the first time. How did the generational shift in the electorate affect the outcome?

Photo credit: Macleans Magazine

Comparison Questions• Justin Trudeau is the son of a

former Canadian Prime Minister; Hillary Clinton is the wife of a former U.S. president. How are political family ties viewed in each case?• Was Clinton unsuccessful in part

because she was female?

Comparison Questions• U.S. parties are “big tents” that

contain mainstream and minority viewpoints. In Canada, parties like the Green Party and the Bloc Québécois exist to voice minority viewpoints in Parliament. • What are the advantages and

disadvantages of each system?

Comparison Questions• Large linguistic minorities play a

role in the politics of Canada and the United States.• How have French speaking

Canadians and Spanish speaking Americans voted to advance their interests?

Comparison Questions• Canada’s public health care system is

popular and supported by all parties; in the United States health care reform is contentious in elections. What explains this difference?

Comparison Questions• In Canada, a federal agency called

Elections Canada handles voter registration and administers elections nationwide and governs campaign finance rules. In the United States, the states administer elections independently, and the Federal Election Commission addresses campaign finance. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

Elections and Outcomes in the United States and

CanadaNational Council for the Social Studies 2016 Conference

Washington, D.C.December 2, 2016