Do conventions matter?

Do Conventions Matter? provides a complete overview of national party conventions in Canada. Courtney describes national party conventions from 1919 to 1993, including the selection of Stanfield, Trudeau, Broadbent, Clark, Mulroney, Turner, McLaughlin, Chretien, Campbell, and Manning. He compares leadership selection practices in Canada with those in the United States, Britain, and Australia, and shows that Canadian conventions remain a distinctive means of choosing party leaders.

Focusing on modern developments in the convention process, Courtney highlights changes in representation over the last thirty years, addresses criticisms about costs and delegate selection practices, and examines the role of the media. He concludes with an examination of the future of conventions in the context of Canadian democracy, given skyrocketing costs, the movement to reform political parties, and the push towards a universal membership vote.

He argues convincingly that the objectives of greater representation and greater democracy explain both the emergence of our tradition of conventions to choose the leaders of federal parties and its possible demise in the near future.