Christopher Alcantara
Christopher Alcantara is associate professor in the department of political science at Western University. Much of his research examines the roots of collective action and intergovernmental cooperation in Canada, especially between Indigenous communities and the other three levels government (e.g. federal, provincial/territorial and municipal). He also writes about the importance of institutional design and the dynamics of institutional change using a variety of theoretical (e.g. rational choice, historical institutionalism, and political economy), conceptual (e.g. multilevel governance), and methodological approaches (e.g. archival research, elite interviews, experiments, and statistical analysis, the latter of which he relies heavily on his generous and talented co-authors!). He has also come to appreciate and to emphasize in his research the important role of agency in a variety of Canadian political arenas. He has written three books, A Quiet Evolution: The Emergence of Indigenous-Local Intergovernmental Partnerships in Canada (UTP: 2016, co-authored with Jen Nelles), Negotiating the Deal: Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements in Canada (UTP: 2013) and Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights (MQUP: 2010), the latter of which was coauthored with Tom Flanagan and Andre Le Dressay. He has published numerous journal articles in Canadian Journal of Political Science, Canadian Public Administration, Electoral Studies, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, Public Choice, Publius: Journal of Federalism, Regional and Federal Studies, and Urban Affairs Review, among others. His research was a finalist for the Donald Smiley Prize in 2014, the Donner Prize in 2011 and the McMenemy Prize in 2013 and has won the 2014 International Council for Canadian Studies Pierre Savard Award for the best book in Canadian Studies, the 2014 Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d’études canadiennes Prize for the best book in Canadian Studies, the J.E. Hodgetts Award for best article in the journal, Canadian Public Administration, and the David Watson Memorial Award for "the paper published in the Queen's Law Journal judged to make the most significant contribution to legal scholarship.”
Address: http://politicalscience.uwo.ca/people/faculty/full-time_faculty/chris_alcantara.html
Address: http://politicalscience.uwo.ca/people/faculty/full-time_faculty/chris_alcantara.html
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sur la démocratie électorale (C-Dem), du Centre for the Study of Political Behaviour
(CSPB) et du Network for Economic and Social Trends (NEST) Research Consultancy
de l'Université Western Ontario pour mener un projet visant à comprendre et à
promouvoir l'engagement civique des jeunes au Canada. S'appuyant sur la
littérature universitaire et grise, sur des données d'enquête originales recueillies par
C-Dem et sur des entretiens approfondis avec des organisations de la société civile,
l'équipe de recherche a cherché à répondre aux questions suivantes :
1. Quelle est la nature de l'engagement civique des jeunes au Canada ?
2. Quels sont les facteurs qui favorisent la participation politique ?
3. Quelles mesures ont été prises par les organismes gouvernementaux et non
gouvernementaux pour améliorer l'engagement civique des jeunes au
Canada au cours de la dernière décennie ?
4. Quelles sont les initiatives les plus prometteuses et les plus réalistes qui
pourraient être prises ou financées par le gouvernement pour améliorer
l'engagement civique des jeunes Canadiens ?
Pour répondre à ces questions, les chercheurs principaux (Stephenson et Alcantara)
ont embauché quatre assistants de recherche du cycle supérieur du département
de science politique de l'Université Western Ontario afin de les aider à mener les
analyses documentaires universitaires (Leblanc) et non-académiques (Whillans), à
analyser les données C-Dem (Béchard), à recueillir et analyser les données issues
des entretiens avec les responsables (Mutter) et à formuler des recommandations
pour les recherches et initiatives futures. (Leblanc était également responsable de la
traduction du rapport final en français.) Le rapport qui en découle est inclus dans la
section I du présent document.
Les premiers résultats de la recherche ont été présentés aux parties intéressées et
aux intervenants lors d'une série d'ateliers de validation organisés par le centre
Morris J. Wosk pour le dialogue de l'Université Simon Fraser, qui a été mandaté
séparément par Fondation Max Bell pour organiser et administrer ces sessions. Le
rapport issu de ces ateliers figure à la section II du présent document. La réponse de
l'équipe C-Dem/CSPB/NEST à ce rapport figure à la section III. Enfin, les annexes du
rapport C-Dem/CSPB/NEST sont présentées à la section IV.
Consortium on Electoral Democracy (C-Dem), the Centre for the Study of Political
Behaviour (CSPB), and the Network for Economic and Social Trends (NEST) Research
Consultancy at The University of Western Ontario to undertake a project that seeks to
understand and advance youth civic engagement in Canada. Drawing upon the
academic and grey literatures, original survey data collected by C-Dem, and in-
depth interviews with civil society organizations, the research team sought to answer
the following questions:
1. What is the state of youth civic engagement in Canada?
2. What are the drivers of political participation?
3. What has been done by government and non-governmental bodies to
improve youth civic engagement in Canada over the past decade?
4. What are the most promising and feasible initiatives for improving Canadian
youth civic engagement that could be undertaken by or funded by the
government?
To answer these questions, the lead researchers (Stephenson and Alcantara) hired
four graduate research assistants from the Department of Political Science at The
University of Western Ontario to help conduct the academic (Leblanc) and grey
(Whillans) literature reviews, analyze the C-Dem data (Béchard), collect and analyze
the elite interview data (Mutter), and generate recommendations for future research
and initiatives. (Leblanc was also responsible for translating the final report into
French.) The resulting report is included in Section I of this document.
Initial findings from the research were presented to interested parties and
stakeholders at a series of validation workshops hosted by the Morris J. Wosk Centre
for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University, who were contracted separately by Max Bell
Foundation to organize and administer these sessions. The report that emerged from
these workshops is included as Section II of this document. The C-Dem/CSPB/NEST
team’s response to this report is included as Section III. Finally, the appendices from
the C-Dem/CSPB/NEST report are presented in Section IV.
Meeting this challenge requires active and engaged citizens. In Canada, there’s a strong sense that civic engagement is on the decline, especially among young people. Recent research commissioned by the Max Bell Foundation — a charity that works to improve educational, health and environmental outcomes for Canadians — suggests that the real story may be more complex.
Our research on political engagement has found that while today’s young Canadians are participating less in conventional political activities, they are increasingly active in other less traditional ways. How do we encourage youth to engage in all forms of civic life?
Download a free copy of the paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/IEVT3MFSSSKGRDHN8WHB/full?target=10.1080/17457289.2024.2329820