Two Political Worlds? Reconsidering Vertical
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TWO POLITICAL WORLDS? RECONSIDERING VERTICAL PARTY INTEGRATION IN CANADA: EVIDENCE FROM ONTARIO by Scott Pruysers A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Canada © 2015 Scott Pruysers Abstract The accepted view of contemporary federal-provincial party relations in Canada is one of independence, distance, and separation. Rather than creating vertical linkages that bridge the federal and provincial jurisdictions, parties are said to have created “two political worlds”, each separate and distinct from the other. The primary purpose of this study is to challenge, or at the very least question, this conventional wisdom about Canadian politics: do parties truly inhabit two political worlds? This is particularly relevant given that there has been very little research on the subject of party integration in the last two decades. Emphasizing the informal, the human, and the local aspects of vertical party integration, this study demonstrates the considerable linkages that exist between federal and provincial parties in Ontario. The analysis presented here reveals a number of important multi-level connections including overlapping personnel, the provision of campaign endorsements, shared campaign teams, the sharing of party resources, and joint social activities and policy discussions in the inter-election period. There is, however, considerable inter-party variation. Therefore, the second purpose of this study is to explain differences among parties. Not all parties respond to multi-level governance in the same way, and it is important to uncover the factors that lead to greater levels of cooperation and collaboration. In doing so, the study evaluates two possible explanations (one based on shared and consistent ideology and another based on formal organizational interconnectedness). While the organizational view tends to dominate the literature, this study demonstrates that organizationally truncated parties (those that operate only at a single level) can establish strong and meaningful multi-level linkages in the absence of any formal organizational connections if they have a coherent ideology that i spans the federal and provincial realms. This coherent ideology helps to build informal norms of cooperation and collaboration and encourages individuals to participate for the same party at both levels. ii Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking my committee members Jonathan Malloy and Jon Pammett for their thoughtful comments, time, and support. I couldn’t have picked a better committee to work with. I would also like to thank my internal examiner Christopher Dornan and my external examiner Éric Bélanger for taking the time to read my dissertation and for being part of my committee. I am especially grateful to William Cross who has been a tremendous supervisor and mentor. The completion of this project would not have been possible without his ongoing encouragement and guidance. Thank you for encouraging me to publish my results, attend summer schools abroad, and to always consider the broader implications of my research. Much of the data for this project were derived from a survey that I conducted of constituency association presidents at the federal and provincial levels in Ontario. Although they hold leadership positions within the party, these individuals are largely local volunteers who have their own careers and families outside of politics. I am truly grateful to everyone who took time to answer my emails, agreed to be interviewed, and completed my survey. Without their time and willingness to participate this study would not have been possible. Throughout the course of my degree I have presented chapters of my dissertation at conferences and submitted papers to a number of journals for publication. The contents of this manuscript are undoubtedly stronger as a result of the thoughtful and thorough comments I have received from countless discussants, reviewers, and editors over the past five years. iii I would also like to thank my wonderful friends and family. My mom, dad, and brother have been a constant source of encouragement and support. To fellow grad students Tyson Flynn, Emmet Collins, Julia Calvert, and Kelly Holmes, you made the halls of Loeb far more pleasant and entertaining! Finally, to my wife Julie, you know more about party integration and multi-level party linkages than you should. Thank you for reading every draft, critiquing every argument, and joyfully telling me when something was “actually interesting”. I couldn't imagine doing this without you. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... x List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1: Multi-level Governance and Party Integration .................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 The Canadian Case ....................................................................................................... 12 Case Selection .............................................................................................................. 20 Data and Methodology ................................................................................................. 23 Structure for the Remaining Chapters .......................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 2: Competing Explanations: Organization or Ideology? ....................... 31 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 31 Party Organization in Multi-level States ...................................................................... 36 The New Democratic Party ...................................................................................... 39 The Liberal Party ...................................................................................................... 43 The Conservative Party ............................................................................................. 47 Ideological Differences ................................................................................................ 53 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER 3: Party Personnel in a Multi-level Context ............................................ 66 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 66 A Framework for Examining Party Personnel in a Multi-level Context ...................... 68 Party Members ............................................................................................................. 70 Party Activists .............................................................................................................. 77 Constituency Association Presidents ........................................................................... 80 Legislators .................................................................................................................... 83 Candidates .................................................................................................................... 91 Inter-party Differences in Personnel Integration .......................................................... 97 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 99 CHAPTER 4: Constituency Associations: A Possible Site for Integration? .......... 103 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 103 Constituency Associations and Party Integration at the Local Level ......................... 104 Constituency Association Survey and Data Collection .............................................. 113 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 114 v CHAPTER 5: Campaign Integration at the Grassroots .......................................... 116 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 116 Measuring Local Party Integration ............................................................................. 119 Candidate Selection .................................................................................................... 120 Resources: Volunteers, Data, and Activists ............................................................... 130 Endorsements and Support in Local Campaigns ........................................................ 138 Constituency Level Differences in Multi-level Campaigning ................................... 146