Should we change how we vote? : evaluating Canada's electoral system / edited by Andrew Potter, Daniel Weinstock, and Peter Loewen.

Published for the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.

Includes bibliographical references.

"During the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party pledged that, if elected, they would end the "first past the post" electoral system, where whichever candidate receives the most votes wins a riding even if they have not received a majority of all votes cast. After the Liberals assumed power, Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef followed up on their campaign promise by announcing a parliamentary committee to evaluate alternative electoral systems and to report their findings before the end of 2016. Challenging the idea that first past the post is obsolete, Should We Change How We Vote? urges Canadians to make sure they understand their electoral system before making drastic changes to it. The contributors to this volume assert that there is perhaps no institution more misunderstood and misrepresented than the Canadian electoral system - it is praised by some for ensuring broad regional representation in Ottawa, but criticized by others for allowing political parties with less than half the popular vote to assume more than half the seats in Parliament. They consider not only how the system works, but also its flaws and its advantages, and whether or not electoral reform is legitimate without a referendum. An essential guide to a crucial debate about the country's future, Should We Change How We Vote? asks if there are alternative reforms that would be easier to implement than a complete overhaul of the electoral system."-- Provided by publisher.

Machine generated contents note: pt. ONE GUIDING PRINCIPLES -- 1. Evaluating How We Vote -- Again / Ken Carty -- 2. Complex Normative Landscape of Electoral Systems / Daniel Weinstock -- 3. Democratic Stability, Representation, and Accountability: A Case for Single-Member Plurality Elections in Canada / Peter Loewen -- 4. Electoral Reform Is Not a Rights Issue / Emmett Macfarlane -- 5. Imaginary Worlds of Electoral System Reform / Christopher Cochrane -- pt. TWO EVIDENCE AND EXPERIENCE -- 6. Voter Choice and Accountability: A Case for Caution about Electoral Reform / Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant -- 7. Electoral System Reform: Implications for Internal Party Democracy / William Cross -- 8. Democratic Deliberation and Electoral Reform / Colin M. Macleod -- 9. Can Proportional Representation Lead to Better Political System Performance? / Mark E. Warren -- 10. What Is the Problem that Electoral Reform Will Solve? / Lydia Miljan -- pt. THREE ISSUES AND ALTERNATIVES -- 11. Electoral System and Parliament's Diversity Problem: In Defense of the Wrongfully Accused / Erin Tolley -- 12. Indigenous Representation, Self-Determination, and Electoral Reform / Melissa S. Williams -- 13. Addressing Representational Deficits in Canadian Legislatures / Elisabeth Gidengil -- pt. FOUR HOW SHOULD WE DECIDE? -- 14. Public Consultation on Electoral Reform Through Referenda or Plebiscite: Recent Experience in British Columbia / Keith Archer -- 15. Should We Have a Referendum? / Dominique Leydet -- 16. Modest Case for Constitutional Limits on Electoral Reform in Canada / Hoi L. Kong -- 17. Which Procedure for Deciding Election Procedures? / Arash Abizadeh.

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