Bookshelf

Being a bit of an academic type, I enjoy reading, so I thought I would assemble a selected reading list on various political topics. Some are intended for general audiences, and some are more of an academic nature. All of them, I have found useful. This is not a complete list of what is on my bookshelf, and I will add to it as I come across new books. Please feel free to send me your suggestions as well.

Campaigning

• Flanagan, Tom – Harper’s Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power
• Kinsella, Warren – The War Room: Political Strategies for Business, NGOs, and Anyone Who Wants to Win (replaces Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics)
• Laschinger, Warren and Geoffery Stevens – Leaders and Lesser Mortals: Backroom Politics in Canada
• Luntz, Frank – Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear

Elections

• Duffy, John – Fights of Our Lives: Elections, Leadership, and the Making of Canada
• Wells, Paul – Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper’s New Conservatism
• Pammett, John and Christopher Dornan – The Canadian Federal Election Series (an anthology of articles by various contributors for every federal election)

Parties

• Clarkson, Stephen – The Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics
• Carty, R. Kenneth – Rebuilding Party Politics in Canada
• Laycock, David – The New Right and Democracy in Canada: Understanding Reform and the Canadian Alliance
• Perlin, George C. – The Tory Syndrome: Leadership Politics in the Progressive Conservative Party
• Plamondon, Bob – Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics

Academic works on voting behaviour

Note: The first three books are by the Canadian Election Studies team, which is comprised of various researchers who do a study every election of attitudes, opinions, and behaviours of Canadian voters. Their work over the years has been one of the major sources of scholarly research on Canadian political behaviour.

• Johnston, Richard et al – Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election (1988)
• Nevitte, Neil et al – Unsteady State – The 1997 Canadian Federal Election
• Blais, Andre et al – Anatomy of A Liberal Victory: Making Sense of the Vote in the 200 Canadian Election
• Blais, Andre – To Vote or Not to Vote? The Merits and Limits of Rational Choice Theory
• Clarke, Harold et al – Making Political Choices: Canada and the United States