Tom Flanagan

Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science and a distinguished fellow at the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also a former campaign manager for conservative parties. His most recent book on campaigning is Winning Power: Canadian Campaigning in the 21st Century (2013).

Articles by this author

A Canadian approach to power-sharing

Canadians are never satisfied with the performance of Parliament, but the reasons for dissatisfaction vary from time to time. It may be hard to remember now, but only a few years ago people were pre-occupied …

Could a populist wave also sweep Canada?

Many observers see similarities among Donald Trump’s victory in the American presidential election, the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, and right-wing populist or conservative-nationalist parties in Europe; for example, the National Front in France, …

Flanagan and Cairns on Aboriginal policy

31 January 2001 Dear Alan, Congratulations on publication of Citizens Plus. It's a truly important book. When anyone asks about my book, I always say they should also read yours if they are going to read mine. Actually, …

Leading the united Right – from the imperative of Conservative unity to the opportunity of Liberal scandals

Preston Manning once told me that the Reform Party of Canada was founded in 1987 at a time of triple crisis: fiscal crisis (federal debt spiraling out of control); constitutional crisis (separatist threats in Quebec); …

Programme pour l’Alberta

L'Hon. Ralph Klein Premier ministre de l'Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Cher M. Klein, Pendant et après les récentes élections fédérales, nous avons débattu, tout comme de nombreux Albertains, de l'avenir de notre province. Nous avons été moins consternés par le …

Space: Punching above our weight

In July 2009, Robert Thirsk and Julie Payette spent 16 days together with other crew members on board the International Space Station (ISS). The presence of two Canadian astronauts in space at the same time …

The Alberta agenda

Hon. Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta, Edmonton Dear Premier Klein, During and since the recent federal election, we have been among a large number of Albertans discussing the future of our province. We were not dismayed by the outcome …

The alternative vote

I have to express a degree of agnosticism about comparing the merits of electoral systems. Fifty years of theoretical research deriving from the Arrow General Impossibility Theorem has demonstrated that there is no perfect method …

The emerging Conservative coalition

The 2011 federal election saw the emergence of a majority Conservative electoral coalition. Built gradually over the last four elections, as shown in table 1, it may dominate Canadian politics for years to come. When he …

The Redford effect: Stagecraft, statecraft and rhetorical pragmatism

In the wee hours of the morning on October 2, 2011, Alison Redford won a surprise victory in the leadership race to succeed Ed Stelmach as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and premier of …