Karen Bird - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Karen Bird

The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

Politicians carefully construct a public persona that is authentic to who they are as individuals... more Politicians carefully construct a public persona that is authentic to who they are as individuals but also addresses voter expectations. Many Black candidates follow a deracialization strategy in which they downplay their racial identities to seek voter support while some follow a racial distinction strategy in which they highlight their racial identities but situate them within hegemonic national narratives. But questions remain about whether a candidate’s decision to use one strategy over another is shaped by national context, partisanship, political position, and riding competitiveness. This paper thus asks the question: How do Black candidates in Canadian elections deploy race in their campaign communications, and what factors might explain any differences in their strategies? To answer this question, we analyze how Black candidates used Twitter during the 2021 Canadian election. Our analysis reveals that Black candidates generally used a deracialization strategy when communicat...

Representation, 2017

Previous research has examined the effects of incumbency or affinity voting on the political repr... more Previous research has examined the effects of incumbency or affinity voting on the political representation of women and minorities. No study has considered the interaction of these two factors, even though there are good reasons to suspect that both may play a key role in voter choice. This study examines the joint effects of incumbency and gender and racial affinity voting in non-partisan and generally low information ward elections in the City of Toronto. Results reveal the absence of gender affinity effects, regardless of the presence of an incumbent, but that racial affinity is a factor in wards without incumbents.

Égalité Des Sexes, Diversité et Inclusion

New citizens – new candidates? Candidate selection and the mobilization of immigrant voters in German elections

This paper assesses the scope and seeks to understand the causes of disparities in descriptive re... more This paper assesses the scope and seeks to understand the causes of disparities in descriptive representation in municipal politics in some of Canada's largest cities. It shows first that visible minorities are extremely under-represented in city councils in Ontario, relative to the representation of other groups at that level, and relative to minority representation in provincial and federal politics. It shows that the extreme representational deficit is not due to an unusual shortage of minority candidates at this level. The paper then explores voter bias as a potential explanation. Using a novel experiment involving a hypothetical candidate whose identity is systematically varied, and employing a diverse sample of respondents, it examines whether variations in vote choice and evaluations of the candidate may be a result of voter bias. Overall, the results point to a positive ethnic affinity effect, in which voters assess same-ethnic candidates more positively and different-ethnic candidates more negatively, and a negative sex affinity effect. However, there are distinctive patterns of vote choice, resulting from different ethnic and sex configurations among candidate and voter. The discussion links the two sets of findings, and speculates that the low information context of municipal elections may contribute to an activation of voter biases, that could be more readily overridden in the richer informational context of elections at the national and provincial level.

Our paper asks whether the municipal ward boundary review process in Ontario addresses visible mi... more Our paper asks whether the municipal ward boundary review process in Ontario addresses visible minority representation as a condition of fair and effective representation. Canada has a largely successful framework for redistricting practices and riding composition that has accommodated minority representation at the federal and provincial levels. But at the municipal level, visible minorities are starkly underrepresented and there appears to be little political imperative to address this. The principle of effective representation, established by the Carter criteria (1991), has been interpreted through case law in Ontario to mean that factors related to geography, communities of interest and minority representation should be taken into account to ensure effective representation. The extent to which these factors are considered during boundary review processes is unclear. Focusing on Ontario municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants, this paper asks two sets of questions. First, is...

The Impact of Digital Technology on First Nations Participation and Governance

IntroductionWhile there has been much attention focused on the former Conservative government&#39... more IntroductionWhile there has been much attention focused on the former Conservative government's divisive Fair Elections Act, there has been far less coverage of another recent development in electoral rules and procedures. This development involves changes to the rules governing elections within Indigenous communities1, specifically First Nations. The First Nations Elections Act, which received Royal Assent and was passed into law on April 11, 2014, offers the potential for improvements to First Nations elections systems and stability for First Nations communities. Until now, elections in many Indigenous communities have been governed by the provisions of the Indian Act.2 The rules of the Indian Act provide for short terms of office and, moreover, have produced election systems often fraught with administrative difficulties and inconsistencies, resulting in frequent appeals. For First Nations that choose to opt-in to the new First Nations Elections Act, the term of office of the...

The Political Representation of Immigrants and Minorities

The book breaks new ground in the analysis of the political representation of immigrants and visi... more The book breaks new ground in the analysis of the political representation of immigrants and visible minorities both theoretically and empirically. It examines the upward trend in migrant and minority representation and demonstrates that there remain crucial differences across liberal democracies in the timing of these developments, in channels of access for minority representatives, in the policy focus and outcomes of minority representation, in the nature of the connections between minority representatives and minority communities and in the ...

Canadian Journal of Political Science, 2016

Do women vote for women and men for men? Do visible minorities vote for minority candidates, and ... more Do women vote for women and men for men? Do visible minorities vote for minority candidates, and white voters for white candidates? And what happens when a minority woman appears on the ballot? This study tests for the presence of gender and ethnic affinity voting in the Toronto mayoral election of 2014, where Olivia Chow was the only woman and only visible minority candidate among the three major contenders. Our analysis, which draws on a survey of eligible Toronto voters, is the first to examine the interactive effects of sex and ethnicity on vote choice in Canada in the context of a non-partisan election and in a non-experimental manner. We find strong evidence of ethnic affinity voting and show that Chow received stronger support from ethnic Chinese voters than from other minority groups. Our results also reveal that gender was related to vote choice but only when connected with race.

Comparing the Political Representation of Ethnic Minorities in Advanced Democracies The mechanism... more Comparing the Political Representation of Ethnic Minorities in Advanced Democracies The mechanisms of representative democracy have never offered up elected assemblies that are a mirror image of the general public they are supposed to represent. Many would argue that this was never their intent (Pitkin 1967). Nevertheless, the distortions of representative democracy have become more apparent of late, and there is mounting pressure to correct them. One group that has been attracting particular attention, especially among the political parties competing for voter support, is ethnic minorities. Historically underrepresented throughout many if not most of the world's established democracies, ethnic minorities have not yet made spectacular gains towards more equitable political representation, but small improvements are apparent in many countries. While it remains intrinsically difficult to measure the level or the quality of political representation enjoyed by ethnic minorities, what interests us most in this paper is why ethnic minorities are beginning to attract attention in terms of political representation, what factors tend to produce better levels of representation for ethnic minorities in some places than in others, as well as the characteristics of ethnic minorities who tend to fill the elected positions in these countries.

Towards a More Collaborative Political Science: A Partnership Approach

Canadian Journal of Political Science

The research model that has dominated the discipline of political science in Canada is based on a... more The research model that has dominated the discipline of political science in Canada is based on a top-down approach that defines and finds solutions to problems as researchers see them, and diminishes the real world concerns of social and political actors. Advocating a more collaborative political science, we argue for a partnership approach that engages those actors in the research process, including problem definition, research design, analysis and knowledge dissemination. This inclusion sharpens the focus of the research and produces more contextually valid and socially valuable knowledge. We draw upon our research experience working with Indigenous communities in Canada to illustrate the value of this approach, and carry out a review of partnership-based research published in The Canadian Journal of Political Science. We find little evidence of partnership-based research in our flagship journal and discuss the implications for the future of our field.

International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2016

Indigenous communities and organizations are increasingly using digital technologies to build com... more Indigenous communities and organizations are increasingly using digital technologies to build community capacity, strengthen community consultation, and improve political participation. In particular, Internet voting is a type of technology to which First Nations have been drawn. This article explores Whitefish River First Nation's (WRFN) experience introducing Internet voting in the course of ratifying a new matrimonial real property law (MRP). Specifically, we examine the implications of Internet voting for political participation and electoral administration at the community level. Although community members’ uptake of Internet voting was very modest, we find the experience of adoption had other subtle impacts on community capacity, specifically in terms of empowering the community to pass its own laws and connecting youth and elders. With respect to administration, Internet voting provided an opportunity to connect with community members using technology, to modernize voting...

Forum valeurs d�mocratiques et propos � caract�re raciste en france et aux �tats-unis

Relations Internationales, 2002

Liberté, egalité, fraternité, parité ... and diversité? The difficult question of ethnic difference in the French parity debate

Contemporary French Civilization, 2001

“We are Not an Ethnic Vote!” Representational Perspectives of Minorities in the Greater Toronto Area

Canadian Journal of Political Science, 2015

This article examines the representational preferences of the represented, a perspective which ha... more This article examines the representational preferences of the represented, a perspective which has been largely neglected by political scientists in Canada. Using focus group interviews, I assess views of representation among three visible minority communities—black, South Asian and Chinese—within the urban and highly diverse setting of the Greater Toronto Area. Applying Hanna Pitkin's classic conceptual framework, I probe the multiple dimensions of political representation, examining the relative importance of its formal, descriptive, substantive and symbolic elements from minorities' perspective. Drawing on more recent advances in representational theory, I examine how minorities evaluate political actors' claims to represent them, and look at the “mobilizing objections” citizens raise in the face of such claims. Finally, I compare the three communities to assess similarities and differences in perceptions of representation along its various dimensions.

L'impossible r�glementation des propos � caract�re raciste aux �tats-unis

Different Gains: Explaining Patterns of Ethnic Minority Representation in the Political Systems of France, Denmark and Canada