I held the Canada Research Chair in Public Opinion, Elections, and Representation until my retirement on 30 June 2020. I continue to be affiliated with the Centre for Migration Studies. I have also taught at the University of Toronto (tenure track), the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University (Mackenzie King chair, 1994-5), and the University of Pennsylvania (tenured). I held visiting fellowships at Queen’s University at Kingston, the Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung (MZES), and the Australian National University. From 2009 to 2012, I was a Marie Curie Research Fellow attached to the European University Institute. In 2017 I was awarded a career fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation.

Personal website

My research falls into three major areas:

Electoral systems, party systems, and parties. This interest spans my entire career and involves close investigation of patterns in Canada and elsewhere, especially the US. On the Canadian side, much of the work is captured in my 2017 book with UBC Press, The Canadian Party System: An Analytic History. (For a synopsis of this book, click here.) On the US side, the major contribution is The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South (with Byron E. Shafer). This book won prizes from both APSA and the Southern Political Science Association. This work also incorporates elements of his work on communications and diversity, as described in the next two paragraphs. For examples, consult posts at the personal website.

My attention is now turned to the Canadian party system of the 21st century, to which the lessons of the 20th century apply only in part. I have published work on the system’s increased polarization, including increased mutual antipathy among supporters of different parties and negativity in campaigns. One major task is the establish the key differences with pre-1900 patterns. Another is to seek the 20th-century sources of 21st-century patterns.

Communications media and campaigns. This interest dates from my time as Principal Investigator of the 1988 and 1992-3 Canadian Election Studies. These were the first designs for national-scale fieldwork that enabled capturing the ephemera of campaigns and linking them to media quantities. The first product of this research was Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election (with André Blais, Henry E. Brady, and Jean Crête), which won the Harold Adams Innis Prize for the best book in the social sciences in Canada. The 1992-93 study resulted in The Challenge of Direct Democracy: the 1992 Canadian Referendum (with Blais, Elisabeth Gidengil, and Neil Nevitte). The Canadian work attracted an international audience and led me to the University of Pennsylvania, where I brought the National Annenberg Election Survey into existence. The NAES was fielded in 2000, 2004, and 2008. The most important product of this initiative is The 2000 Presidential Election and the Foundations of Party Politics (with Michael G. Hagen and Kathleen Hall Jamieson). Along the way, the basics of the Canadian design were incorporated in election studies in New Zealand, Austria, Italy, and the UK. I am now engaged in a comparative studies of campaigns, funded by SSHRC and my Humboldt fellowship.

Social capital, diversity and the welfare state. This interest found its first expression in the 1980s with Public Opinion and Public Policy in Canada: Questions of Confidence. It was rekindled in the late 1990s with my participation in a multidisciplinary research group on “Equality, Society, and Community”. It involves ongoing collaborations with Keith Banting, Will Kymlicka, Stuart Soroka, Matthew Wright, and Jack Citrin. The work ranges from survey- and experimentally-based work on civic (and uncivic) orientations to multi-country comparative work on immigration and social spending.

I make occasional appearances online. See, for instance, two Maclean’s posts, on the constitutional aspects of BC’s 2017 government transition and on some strategic elements in BC’s 2018 electoral reform process.  I post on the Monkey Cage occasionally and on X (formerly Twitter) more frequently(@rgcjohnston3), sometimes in curatorial role and sometimes with links to original commentary. Mostly these posts are about politics, but occasionally they are about sports analytics.

2010:

National Identity and Support for the Welfare State. Canadian Journal of Political Science 43(June 2010): 349-377. With Keith Banting, Stuart Soroka, and Will Kymlicka.
[Shortlisted for McMenemy Prize, 2011, best CJPS paper in the previous year]
[Reprinted in Andrzej Marcin Suszycki and Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, eds., Citizenship and Identity in the Welfare State. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2013, pp.109-138]

The Economy and the Dynamics of the 2008 Presidential Campaign: Evidence from the National Annenberg Election Study. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Policy. 20 (June 2010): 271-89. With Emily Thorson and Andrew Gooch.

The Campaign Dynamics of Economic Voting. Electoral Studies 29 (March 2010): 13-24. With J. Scott Matthews.

Political Parties and the Electoral System, in John Courtney and David Smith, eds., Oxford Handbook of Canadian Politics Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 208-25.

2011:

Partisan Change in the Post-Key South, in Angie Maxwell and Todd G. Shields, eds. Unlocking V.O. Key Jr.: Southern Politics for the Twenty-First Century. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2011, pp. 161-84.

The Conservative Party, 1965-2006: Death and Rebirth?, in Randall Morck, ed. Recreating Canada: Essays in Honour of Paul Weiler. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011, pp. 155-69.

2012:

National Identity in Canada and the United States: Where do Immigration and Multiculturalism Fit in? Canadian Journal of Political Science 45(October 2012): 531-552. With Jack Citrin and Matthew Wright.

Structural Bases of Canadian Party Preference: Evolution and Cross-National Comparison, in Mebs Kanji, Antoine Bilodeau, and Thomas Scotto, eds., Four Decades of Canadian Election Studies: Learning from the Past and Planning for the Future. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2012, pp. 154-79.

The Past and Future of Canadian Election Studies, in ibid, pp. 88-98. With André Blais.

2013:

Alignment, Realignment, and Dealignment in Canada:  The View from Above. Canadian Journal of Political Science. 46(June 2013): 245-271.

The Party System, Elections, and Social Policy, in Keith Banting and John Myles, eds., The Fading of Redistributive Politics: Inequality and the Politics of Social Policy. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013, pp. 187-209.

Situating the Canadian Case, in Amanda Bittner and Royce Koop, eds. Canadian Parties, Voters, and Elections: A New Era. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013, pp. 284-307.

2014:

Activation of Fundamentals in German Campaigns,” in Voters on the Move or on the Run? Information Processing and Vote Choice in a Complex World, eds. Bernard Weßels, Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck, Hans Rattinger, and Sigrid Roßteutscher. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 217-237. With Julia Partheymüller and Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck.

2015:

Parties and Party Systems: Structure and Context. (Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2015). Edited, with Campbell Sharman.

Regional Pivots and Brokerage Politics, in Ibid., pp. 30-51.

Introduction, in Ibid., pp. 3-12. With Campbell Sharman.

Parties and Party Systems: The Imperatives of Integration,” in Ibid., pp. 285-297. With Campbell Sharman.

Canada is polarizing–and it’s because of the parties,” in Political Polarization in American Politics, eds. Daniel J. Hopkins and John Sides. New York: Bloomsbury, 2015, pp. 120-125.

2016:

Multiculturalism and Muslim Accommodation: Policy and Predisposition Across Three Political Contexts. Comparative Political Studies 50:1 (January 2017): 102-132. With Matthew Wright, Jack Citrin, and Stuart Soroka.

Migration and Welfare State Spending. European Political Science Review 8:2 (May 2016): 173-194. With Stuart Soroka, Will Kymlicka, and Keith Banting.

2017:

Multiculturalism and Muslim Accommodation: Policy and Predisposition Across Three Political Contexts. Comparative Political Studies 50:1 (January 2017): 102-132. With Matthew Wright, Jack Citrin, and Stuart Soroka.

Vote compass in British Columbia: insights from and about published polls. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Policy 8:1 (January 2017): 97-109.

Campaign Effects, in Kai Arzheimer, Jocelyn Evans, and Michael Lewis-Beck, eds. The SAGE Handbook of Electoral Behaviour. London: Sage, 2017, pp. 709-732.

Diversity and solidarity: New evidence from Canada and the US, in The Strains of Commitment: The Political Sources of Solidarity in Diverse Societies, eds. Keith G. Banting and Will Kymlicka. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 152-176. With Matthew Wright, Stuart Soroka, and Jack Citrin.

The Canadian Party System: An Analytic History. Vancouver, UBC Press.

[Shortlisted for the Smiley Prize, CPSA, best book on Canadian politics]
[Winner, Lipset Prize, APSA, best book on Canadian politics]

Ethnoreligious Identity, Immigration and Redistribution. Journal of Experimental Political Science. 4:3 (Winter 2017): 173-182. With Stuart Soroka, Matthew Wright, Jack Citrin, Keith Banting, and Will Kymlicka.

2018:

Federalism and the Welfare State in a Multicultural World, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018, pp. 260. With Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Will Kymlicka, and John Myles. And in this volume:

The Progressive’s Dilemma, pp. 1-19. With Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Will Kymlicka, and John Myles.

Multiculturalism Policy and Support for the Welfare State, pp. 263-289. With Stuart Soroka, Matthew Wright, and Irene Bloemraad.

2019:

Liberal Leaders and Liberal Success: The Impact of Alternation. Canadian Journal of Political Science 52:3 (Autumn 2019): 423-442.

2022:

Plus ça Change? Stability amid Volatility in German Campaigns, in The Changing German Voter. Edited by Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck et al. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2022, pp.282-310. With Julia Partheymüller.

The predictable campaign: Theory and evidence. Electoral Studies 75 (February 2022): 11pp. With Sarah Lachance.

2023:

Affective Polarization in the Canadian Party System, 1988-2021. Canadian Journal of Political Science 56 (June 2023): 372 – 395 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423923000112

Partisan Intensification in Campaigns: Proof of Concept? in Thorsten Faas, Sascha Huber, Mona Krewel, and Sigrid Roßteutscher, eds. Informationsflüsse, Wahlen und Demokratie. Baden Baden: Nomos, pp. 247-268.

2024:

Families and the Fate of Party Systems, in Amanda Bittner, J. Scott Matthews, and Stuart Soroka, eds. Canada’s Electoral Future in Comparative Perspective. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 79-103.

Under review:

Negativity in Canadian Election Coverage, 2004-2015. Under review as part of Laura Stephenson, Allison Harrell, and Patrick Fournier, eds., Fear and Loathing in Canadian Elections?

• APSA organized-section or affiliated-group paper prizes:
  • Ithiel de Sola Pool Prize, American Political Science Association, 1994 (best paper in Political Communications at the 1993 annual meeting). With Elisabeth Gidengil and Neil Nevitte.
  • Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section, American Political Science Association, 1997, best paper at the 1996 Annual Meeting. With André Blais, Henry E. Brady, Elisabeth Gidengil, and Neil Nevitte.
  • Political Parties and Organizations Section, American Political Science Association, 2001, best paper at the 2000 Annual Meeting. With Byron E. Shafer.
  • Political Parties and Organizations Section, American Political Science Association, 2003, best paper at the 2002 Annual Meeting. With Byron E. Shafer.
  • French Politics and Society Group, American Political Science Association, 2015 Frank L. Wilson Award, best paper at the 2014 Annual Meeting. With Andrea Nuesser and Marc-André Bodet.
• Book prizes:
  • Harold Adams Innis Prize, Social Science Federation of Canada, 1993 (best English-language book in the social sciences published in Canada in 1992), with André Blais, Henry E Brady, and Jean Crête.
  • Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section, American Political Science Association, 2007, best book on race, ethnicity, and political participation. With Byron E. Shafer.
  • Southern Political Science Association, 2007, V.O. Key Prize for the best book on Southern politics. With Byron E. Shafer.
  • Canadian Politics Section, American Political Science Association, Seymour Martin Lipset 2019 (Best book on Canadian Politics in the preceding two years)
• Academic Honours:
  • Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1970
  • Killam Research Prize, UBC, 1988
  • Skelton-Clark Fellow, Queen’s University, 1992-93
  • Nuffield College, Oxford, Politics Group Official Visitor, Trinity Term, 1998.
  • Nuffield College, Oxford, Associate Member, 2002-4.
  • University of British Columbia, Distinguished University Scholar, 2003-10.
  • Canadian Political Science Association, President, 2007-8.
  • Marie Curie Research Fellow, European University Institute, 2009-12
  • Canada Research Chair, 2010-
  • Guest Professor, Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung (MZES), Universität Mannheim, May-June 2012
  • Visiting Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, March-April 2014
  • Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2017
  • American Political Science Association, Canadian Politics Organized Section, Mildred A. Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award, 2017
  • Dean of Arts Prize, UBC, 2019. (The recipient is asked to name the award after a living emeritus colleague. I chose Ken Carty.)

Access full CV here.