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Constituency Campaigning in the Age of Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2017

Kaija Belfry Munroe  and
H.D. Munroe
Kaija Belfry Munroe*
Affiliation:
Quest University Canada
H.D. Munroe*
Affiliation:
Quest University Canada
*
Social Sciences Division, Quest University Canada, 3200 University Boulevard, Squamish, BC, V8B 0N8, email: kbm@questu.ca
Social Sciences Division, Quest University Canada, 3200 University Boulevard, Squamish, BC, V8B 0N8, email: doug.munroe@questu.ca
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Abstract

This paper examines how Canadian constituency campaigns perceive and use data in elections. We apply a conceptual framework for data-driven campaigning, developed from existing literature, to participant observations and interview responses from the Conservative, Liberal and NDP campaigns in a single riding during the general election of 2015. The rhetoric of “big data” notwithstanding, we find significant variation in the extent and nature of the use of data at the constituency level, and that the increasing use of data in electioneering may have a centralizing effect on traditionally stratarchical political party organization.

Résumé

Cet article examine la perception et l'utilisation des données à l'occasion des campagnes de circonscription au Canada. Nous appliquons un cadre conceptuel pour les campagnes guidées par données, élaboré à partir de la documentation existante, aux observations des participants et aux réponses obtenues aux entrevues lors des campagnes des partis conservateur, libéral et néo-démocrate dans une seule circonscription au cours de l’élection générale de 2015. En dépit de l'argumentation sur les « mégadonnées », nous constatons une variation significative dans l’étendue et la nature de l'utilisation des données à l’échelon de la circonscription et que l'utilisation croissante des données dans les manœuvres électoralistes peut avoir un effet centralisateur sur l'organisation traditionnellement stratarchique du parti politique.

Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 135 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2017 

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