Like father, like son: Justin Trudeau and valence voting in Canada’s 2015 federal election

Harold D. Clarke, Timothy B. Gravelle, Thomas J. Scotto, Marianne C. Stewart, Jason Reifler

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Canada's 2015 federal election was an exiting, as well as a nostalgia provoking, contest. After nine years in office, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the governing Conservatives were defeated by the resurgent Liberals led by Justin Trudeau. Trudeau is the son of Pierre Trudeau, perhaps Canada’s best known prime minister. Analyses of national survey data demonstrate that party leader images—a major component of the "valence politics" model of electoral choice—were important in both cases. Unlike his father, Justin Trudeau was castigated as a "lightweight" and "just not ready." However, articulating plausible policies to jump-start Canada's sluggish economy and espousing "sunny ways," the younger Trudeau was warmly received by many voters. In contrast, Harper's image of managerial competence was tarnished by bad economic news, and his attempt to refocus the campaign on emotionally charged cultural issues failed. The result was a Liberal majority government and a prime minister named Trudeau.
LanguageEnglish
Pages701-707
Number of pages7
JournalPS - Political Science and Politics
Volume50
Issue number3
Early online date12 Jun 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jul 2017

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economics

Keywords

  • valence voting
  • Trudeau
  • Canadian politics
  • electoral politics

Cite this

Clarke, Harold D. ; Gravelle, Timothy B. ; Scotto, Thomas J. ; Stewart, Marianne C. ; Reifler, Jason. / Like father, like son : Justin Trudeau and valence voting in Canada’s 2015 federal election. In: PS - Political Science and Politics. 2017 ; Vol. 50, No. 3. pp. 701-707.
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Clarke, HD, Gravelle, TB, Scotto, TJ, Stewart, MC & Reifler, J 2017, 'Like father, like son: Justin Trudeau and valence voting in Canada’s 2015 federal election' PS - Political Science and Politics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 701-707. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096517000452

Like father, like son : Justin Trudeau and valence voting in Canada’s 2015 federal election. / Clarke, Harold D.; Gravelle, Timothy B.; Scotto, Thomas J.; Stewart, Marianne C.; Reifler, Jason.

In: PS - Political Science and Politics, Vol. 50, No. 3, 30.07.2017, p. 701-707.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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Clarke HD, Gravelle TB, Scotto TJ, Stewart MC, Reifler J. Like father, like son: Justin Trudeau and valence voting in Canada’s 2015 federal election. PS - Political Science and Politics. 2017 Jul 30;50(3):701-707. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096517000452

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