- Title:
- A statesmanlike measure with a partisan tail : the development of the nineteenth-century Dominion Electoral Franchise
- Creator:
- Grittner, Colin J.
- Date Created:
- 2009
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- Canada History
- Geographical Focus:
- Canada
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- In Canada, the vote represents the principal avenue for political participation. Between Confederation in 1867 and the end of the nineteenth century, Canada’s federal franchise law — the law that determines who may vote in Dominion elections — underwent a series of seemingly antithetical alterations. Thus far, historians and political scientists have written very little on this development of the nineteenth-century Dominion franchise. Amongst those who have, the idea that franchise reform took place during this period because of partisan expediency has tended to hold sway historiographically. Taking other factors into account — from political altruism to popular pressure — this thesis questions that historiographical trend. Certainly, partisanship still played a part in these legislative alterations. Through an application of state formation theory, this thesis argues that nineteenth-century Canadian statesmen, by means of new franchise law, in large part attempted to graft their own ideological visions of Canada onto the burgeoning nation.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Grittner, Colin J.. 2009. "A statesmanlike measure with a partisan tail : the development of the nineteenth-century Dominion Electoral Franchise", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_124.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.