Electoral Rules and Electoral Reform in Canada

Abstract

Abstract The puzzle addressed by this chapter is why electoral reform for the Canadian House of Commons has so rarely made it to the agenda, let alone to adoption, despite the existence of widely recognized problems with the current electoral system, the experience of several rounds of constitutional reform in which the issue could have been raised, and relatively weak constitutional barriers to reform. The first section, ‘Electoral Rules and the Party System’, provides background on how the Canadian party system has evolved under the current set of single‐seat district (SSD) plurality electoral rules. The second section, ‘Explaining the Limited Electoral Reform Agenda in Canada’, examines why electoral reform for the Canadian House of Commons has so rarely been on the political agenda. The final section, ‘Prospects for Electoral Reform in the Future’,discusses conditions under which electoral reform might come onto the agenda in the near future, and whether it is likely to do so.