This volume falls into the recognized sub-field of election studies. The team of scholars co-writing the volume was assembled to conduct a detailed study of voter behaviour in the 1997 federal election. Using broadly based surveys and a question-centred approach, the authors have attempted to analyse the results of the election. Chapters are organized around easily recognizable and understood questions: did the media treat all the parties fairly? Did the leadership debates have any impact on the outcome? What about Reform's Quebec attack ads? Did Canadians vote strategically? Why did the Liberals lose seats when the economy was performing better? How did the leaders help or hurt their parties? Why couldn't Reform win any seats in Ontario? Why did the NDP do better in Atlantic Canada? Do values matter to the way people vote?

Table of Contents:
LIST OF FIGURES; LIST OF TABLES; CHAPTER ONE: SETTING THE STAGE; Introduction; Questions of Context; Political Parties and Voters; CHAPTER TWO: THE VOTE; The 1997 Election in Perspective; The Regional Vote; Do Voters Vote Strategically?; First and Second Choices; Campaign Dynamics; The Flow of the Vote; Conclusion; CHAPTER THREE: MEDIA DYNAMICS IN THE 1997 ELECTION; Getting Visibility; Media Statics: The Winners and Losers; Media Dynamics: Gaining and Losing Ground; The Turning Points; The Impact on the Vote; Conclusion; CHAPTER FOUR: IDEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE; Ideological Structures; Basic Outlooks; Communal Orientations; The Ideological Distribution of Voters in 1997; Ideological Change?; Conclusion; CHAPTER FIVE: LOW TURNOUT: A SIGN OF DISAFFECTION?; How Low is 67?; Who Did Not Vote?; Why Not Vote?; Conclusion; CHAPTER SIX: A SMALL LIBERAL VICTORY; Is the Liberal Part the 'Natural' Party in Government?; The Economy and the Vote; Assessing the Performance of the Liberal Government; What About Jean Chretien?; Conclusion; CHAPTER SEVEN: A ONE-MAN SHOW; A Shrunken Core; In Search of a Winning Issue; The Charest Paradox; Conclusion; CHAPTER EIGHT: THE REFORM PARTY AND THE LIMITS TO GROWTH; The Bases of Reform Support; Why is the Reform Party Viewed as Extreme?; Ontario: The Failure to Break Through; The Prospects for a United Right; Conclusion; CHAPTER NINE: OFF THE RADAR SCREEN; Out of Touch or Out of Sight?; The Atlantic Breakthrough; The Gender Gap; Conclusion; CHAPTER TEN: WHY DID THE BLOC QUEBECOIS LOSE GROUND?; An Autopsy of the Setback; The Decline of Sovereignty; The Utility of a Sovereignist Party in Ottawa; The Economy; The Popularity of Political Leaders; Defections: Were Moderate Sovereignists Easy Prey for Jean Charest?; Conclusion; CHAPTER ELEVEN: COCLUSIONS; An Evolving Party System; Lessons Learned; What About Long-Term Factors?; What Does the Future Hold?; APPENDIX A: THE 1997 CANADIAN ELECTION STUDY; APPENDIX B: FACTOR ANALYSIS OF IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS; APPENDIX C: THE VOTE REGRESSIONS; APPENDIX D: EXPLAINING TURNOUT; BIBLIOGRAPHY