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Policy versus practice: Third party behaviour in Canadian elections
Author(s) -
Lawlor Andrea,
Crandall Erin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
canadian public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1754-7121
pISSN - 0008-4840
DOI - 10.1111/capa.12266
Subject(s) - third party , politics , political science , consistency (knowledge bases) , power (physics) , public relations , general election , qualitative property , public administration , political economy , economics , law , internet privacy , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , computer science
Third party campaigners are widely noted to have the power to change the landscape of an election. Yet, in Canada, we know little about whether there is consistency behind third parties' motivations, expectations and strategies, or how these motivations parse with those of the legislators who are attempting to regulate their behaviour. This article explores these factors using data from Canadian federal elections from 2004 to 2015. Merging qualitative interviews and survey data of third parties with quantitative evaluations of third party and political party campaign spending, we assess whether the strategic motivations of third parties reflect the intentions and design of campaign policies that regulate their actions. The United Kingdom regulatory regime is briefly reviewed as an example of an alternative policy approach.