Distributive Politics in Canada

The Case of Infrastructure Spending in Rural and Suburban Districts

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6239261
AutoresOlivier Jacques (0000-0002-3864-1773, Queen's University), Benjamin Ferland (0000-0002-3856-7809, University of Ottawa)
Año2021
Volumen54
Número1
Páginas96-117
Fecha de publicación2021-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCanadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0008423920000955
OpenAlexW3123879225
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas38

This article examines the presence of geographically targeted spending in the allocation of infrastructure projects in Canada. Building on formal models of distributive politics, we expect government districts, core government districts and swing districts to be advantaged in terms of infrastructure projects. We also investigate whether characteristics of Members of Parliament (MPs), such as seniority or holding a cabinet position, influence the distribution of infrastructure projects. Empirically, we analyze the amount of funding allocated by Infrastructure Canada across non-urban federal electoral districts between 2006 and 2018. Our results indicate that non-urban governmental districts receive, on average, more money than opposition districts, and that this is even more the case for core government districts. In contrast, we found little evidence that cabinet ministers or senior MPs are able to attract more funding to their constituencies compared to other representatives

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