Partisanship, ideology, and civic autonomy : towards a comprehensive framework for measuring autonomy in Canadian cities
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Political Science, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Kowalchuk, Katelynn Rae
issued: 2022-07-26T20:36:18Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Notwithstanding the expansion of the role, capacity and democratic legitimacy of municipal governments in modern public life in Canada, they remain vulnerable to the whims of their respective provincial governments. Smith and Spicer’s (2018) work, “The Local Autonomy of Canada’s Largest Cities”, is the first attempt within the Canadian urban politics field to quantitatively measure local autonomy in Canadian cities, drawing on previous qualitative research within Canada and international quantitative indices. Most of their measures of local autonomy are naturally suited to quantitative research (such as per capita expenditures); however, other measures are more challenging to place within a quantitative framework, prompting the opportunity for critique and refinement. My thesis argues that two of Smith and Spicer’s indicators of political autonomy are not fully supported by the literature, lack a strong theoretical narrative for their explanatory power, and are limited by the constraints of their strictly quantitative methodology. Additionally, I contend that their universality is overestimated, and that political autonomy would be captured more powerfully through an understanding of the historical context and the motivations of powerful actors in cities and provincial capitals. These two measures of political autonomy, and Smith and Spicer’s index more broadly, would benefit from additional nuance stemming from historical qualitative research which can illuminate the details, contingencies, and unique dynamics that can be lost within the requirements of quantitative research. My thesis aims to demonstrate the importance of capturing this nuance through an examination of the history of Vancouver politics vis-à-vis the BC provincial government throughout the 1930s. This historiography supports my assertion that political actors are not bound by the institutional constraints assumed by Smith and Spicer’s measures of political interconnectivity. Rather than Smith and S…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/82198
note: PARTISANSHIP, IDEOLOGY, AND CIVIC AUTONOMY: TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR MEASURING AUTONOMY IN CANADIAN CITIES by Katelynn Rae Kowalchuk BA, The University of Regina, 2020 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2022 © Katelynn Rae Kowalchuk, 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Partisanship, Ideology, and Civic Autonomy: Towards a Comprehensive Framework for Measuring Autonomy in Canadian Cities Submitted by Katelynn Rae Kowalchuk in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Examining Committee: Carey Doberstein, Associate Professor, Political Science, UBC Supervisor Gerald Baier, Associate Professor, Political Science, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii ABSTRACT Notwithstanding the expansion of the role, capacity and democratic legitimacy of municipal governments in modern public life in Canada, they remain vulnerable to the whims of their respective provincial governments. Smith and Spicer’s (2018) work, “The Local Autonomy of Canada’s Largest Cities”, is the first attempt within the Canadian urban politics field to quantitatively measure local autonomy in Canadian cities, drawing on previous qualitative research within Canada and international quantitative indices. Most of their measures of local autonomy are naturally suited to quantitative research (such as per capita expenditures); however, other measures are more challenging to place within a quantitative framework, prompting the opportunity for critique and refinement. My thesis argues that two of Smith and Spicer’s indicators of political autonomy are not fully supported by the literature, lack a strong theoretical narrative for their explana…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0416396
language: eng
degree discipline: Political Science
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Doberstein, Carey
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82198