Thursday, February 18, 2010
What your mom doesn't want you to be when you grow up
A recent Ipsos Reid poll asked Canadians if they would "encourage any family member to run for public office because it is a noble calling."
The result? Two of every three Canadians polled, or 66%, said no.
That's not a surprise. Given the negativity that surrounds much of the discussion around politics, not to mention the time and travel demands and public scrutiny associated with the job, I'd have thought it might even have been higher.
Most of the MPs in our project have kids. We often ask the MPs if they'd like their children to go into politics. We're in the midst of analyzing the results right now, but so far, it looks pretty split among three answers: no, direct yes and the slightly modified yes (i.e., sure, but only if they wanted to).
I'm curious what teachers, doctors, lawyers, soldiers (or any other profession, really) would say if asked if they'd like their kids to follow in their professional footsteps.
Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Monday, February 1, 2010
What about women?
One of the most common questions I'm asked, maybe because of my own gender, is whether Samara's exit interviews take a particular look at women in politics.
The answer is yes and no. Yes, because we are interviewing women (our pool, which draws form those who left public life during or after the last two Parliaments, includes 36 women, or about 26% of our total interviewees). This is a bit higher than our current Parliament, where women comprise just over 22% of the total.
No, because we're not specifically asking them to talk about their life in politics as women. We're asking them about their life in politics. Ditto our approach with all possible sub-groups of politicians (e.g., immigrants, Liberals, Maritimers, lawyers, backbenchers etc.).
We're in the midst of analyzing the results of our first 65 interviews, and we're interested to see how much variability there is in perspectives based on gender and on other variables.
In the interim, have a closer look at some facts about the female MPs in our interview pool and see how they compare with the larger group. For example, the women in our sample:
- Were 47 years old when they entered Parliament and 56 when they left;
- Served for 8.75 years (slightly less than the overall group, which was just under 10 years);
- Were more likely to be defeated. 56% of the women lost their election, where it was 48% for the larger group;
- Had a lot of legislative experience. 10 women were cabinet ministers and 18 were parliamentary secretaries; 4 served in both capacities;
- Are extremely educated. 78% publicly listed their college or university degrees;
- Were largely from the Liberal party. 3 were from the Bloc, 2 were Conservatives, 4 were from the NDP and 27 were Liberals.
Equal Voice is a great place to go for more facts and figures on women in Parliament. I'm also working my way through Sylvia Bashevkin's latest book on the topic.
Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, Sylvia Bashevkin, women in politics
Monday, January 25, 2010
The MP weekend diaspora...
For most of us, how and where we spend our weekends, probably doesn't have a significant impact on our professional lives.
Not so with MPs.
Although not a specific area of our research, the MPs' personal and family lives invariably come up. One trend we've noticed, also supported by the research of Queen's professor Ned Franks, is the change in how MPs increasingly structure their work and home lives - and the impact that this may be having on cross-party relationships on the Hill.
For instance, 40 years ago it was normal for MPs' families to move to Ottawa with them. Air travel was less accessible, MPs' travel budgets were smaller and dual career families were less common. Moving was often the practical option.
The result?
Regardless of party, Ottawa became a bit more like "home," especially as all newly elected MPs (and their families) found themselves dealing with many typical family matters, such as schools, doctors and little league teams, together. Along the way, cross-party friendships often formed particularly as families socialized away from the political arena.
Today, the House suffers from what Ned Franks describes as a "weekend diaspora" where most MPs leave Ottawa on Thursday and return to their constituencies and families. One MP we interviewed said he'd hosted a dinner party at his home one evening and everyone who attended said it was the first time in their years in Ottawa that they'd been invited to dinner in the home of a colleague.
It may seem like a small change, but Franks argues that this lack of day-to-day, non-political contact could be part of the reason why the House is now a less collegial place overall. I guess it's harder to yell across the aisle when you know you may run into that person at the grocery store or at your kids' hockey game.
Of course no one is arguing for a cross-party sing along (although what a fundraising idea...) but just that this change doesn't have to be permanent. Ultimately, the work of Parliament is about people and so anything that helps MPs see a bit more of the human side of each other can only help. Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, Parliament, political leadership
Monday, January 18, 2010
Law: apparently not the only path to politics (at least in Canada)
This post is for all those aspiring politicos out there: law school is not your only option!
A common belief is that most politicians were lawyers before getting elected, an understandable assumption since so many former Canadian PMs (starting with John A. Macdonald, Wilfred Laurier to the more recent slate of Diefenbaker, Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin) were all lawyers. So one can be forgiven for thinking that law school is step one on the path to political power. Not true - well, at least in Canada. In our pool of 139 MPs from the 38th and 39th Parliament, only 12% were lawyers. The others came from a variety of backgrounds, including: 24% from business or finance, 19% from government or politics; 15% from education and 10% from other industries. What's especially interesting, is to see how Canadian politicians compare with their international counterparts. Last spring, the Economist had a look at the professional backgrounds of international politicians and had some interesting observations on the cultural meaning of these preferences. For instance, in China, engineers dominate the political class. President Hu is a hydraulic engineer, his predecessor Jiang Zemin was an electrical engineer and the current Prime Minister is a geological engineer. The influence of engineers in politics is partly the result of both Chinese ideology and history. Specifically, under Maoism, engineering was considered a safe field of study. In countries where power has been seized via military coups, the political class is comprised of generals. Egypt has a preference for politicians who were academics, South Korea for civil servants and Brazil for doctors. In the US, lawyers are prevalent. Case in point, the Obama administration. President Obama, his Secretary of State, his Attorney-General, his Director of the CIA and his Vice President are all lawyers. Similarly, over half of America's senators practised law. The article also points to the increasing trend towards professional politicians, particularly in more mature democracies such as Britain and the US. Whereas traditionally, politics was something that was done after a "real" career, that is shifting. For example, David Cameron, the UK Tory leader, went from university into the party's research department, pausing for a brief career in PR. However, he has essentially, in one form or another been in politics his entire adult life.
Similarly Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, Britain's current and former prime ministers, became members of Parliament at 32 and 30, making their past careers (journalist and barrister) short interludes. Will or is Canada currently seeing the rise of the professional politician? More on this to come...Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Monday, January 11, 2010
Political memory lane, vol. 3: The 39th Parliament
Last week we told you about the 38th Parliament, and this week are a few highlights from the 39th, which followed the January 2006 election and sat from April 2006 to September 2008. This was Stephen Harper's first minority government.
It doesn’t seem that long ago does it? But you may be surprised by what you’ve forgotten... The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni dominated the fiction bester-seller list; The Secret by Rhonda Byrne was becoming a global phenomenon and the 2007 Academy Award for best movie went to No Country for Old Men.
Meanwhile, in Canadian politics:
- Accountability (still): The fall-out from the Quebec-Federal Sponsorship Scandal continued and in February 2006 The Gomery Commission Report is released and it recommends a number of reforms to the civil service and its relationship with government;
- Democratic Reform: Bill C-16 passes on May 3, 2007. The impact? It brings into law fixed election dates which means that the Prime Minister is no longer able to call a snap election in a majority government situation. Going forward, regular elections will be scheduled unless a non-confidence motion is passed against a minority government;
- The Environment: In October 2006 and despite the provisions of the ratified Kyoto Accord, the Clean Air Act fails to pass, and
- Defence: The motion to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan by two years (until 2011) was also successful
Next week, more on the backgrounds of our Members of Parliament.
Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Monday, January 4, 2010
Political memory lane, volume two: the 38th Parliament
As we mentioned in earlier posts, most Mondays we'll try to share factoids on our MP Exit Interview project. Part of our background work involved putting the MP's service in context of the history of the time.
Today: a short overview of the 38th Parliament, which followed the June 2004 election and sat from October 2004 until November 2005.
Culturally, it was a time of icons. In 2004 Runaway a book of short stories by Alice Munro was awarded that year's Giller Prize and on CBC The Rick Mercer Report was launched.
In 2005, Madonna released her tenth studio album (Confessions on a Dance Floor) and Comedy Central launched The Colbert Report, starring long-time Daily Show correspondent Stephen Colbert. Here in Canada, Peter C. Newman published his controversial book, The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister.
In terms of parliamentary legislation and Canadian issues, some of the topics that we were thinking and talking about as a nation were:
- Accountability: Calls came for greater accountability in the wake of the 2004 sponsorship scandal, where questionable funds were distributed to Quebec Liberals from a fund created after the 1995 referendum;
- The Environment: From November 28 - December 9, 2005 Montreal hosted the UN's Climate Change Conference where representatives from 189 governments met for international climate change negotiations;
- Public Safety: In November 2005, The Canadian Border Services Agency was created to address border security; and
- Marriage: On July 20, 2005, The Civil Marriage Act received Royal Assent, legalizing same sex marriage throughout Canada.
In many respects, this look back kinda leaves one wondering how much has really changed!
Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Monday, December 21, 2009
Political memory lane, volume one
When we started our MP Exit Interview project, among the decisions we had to make was which group of MPs we'd seek to interview first. Some suggested only interviewing those who retired (versus those who lost in an election, as they might have hard feelings). Others argued we should start with the oldest living MPs, or with women MPs or with those serving in cabinet.
In the end, we opted to start with those who recently left public life, regardless of how they left. After all, losing is often part of the experience too. The creation of new political parties as well as wider technological change have changed our politics and we figured these MPs would have the most relevant perspectives.
We decided to go back two parliaments, or about five years, meaning we'd be speaking to those who left public life during or after the 38th and 39th Parliaments.
For most people (including us before we started our MP exit interview project), the 38th and 39th Parliaments didn't mean anything really. Most of us outside Ottawa (and even inside Ottawa) can be excused for not thinking about time in this way.
Simply speaking, those were the last two completed Parliaments (we're currently in the 40th). They were both minorities too, meaning everyone we've spoken to has experience serving in that context.
The 38th Parliament followed the June 2004 election, and sat from October 2004 until November 2005. It was Paul Martin's Liberal minority government, with Stephen Harper (Conservatives), Jack Layton (NDP) and Gilles Duceppe (Bloc) in opposition.
The 39th Parliament came after the January 2006 election, and sat from April 2006 to September 2008. This was Stephen Harper's first Conservative minority. The Liberals had two leaders during this time (Bill Graham as interim, followed by Stéphane Dion). Layton and Duceppe remained at the helm of the NDP and the Bloc, respectively.
In the coming few Mondays, we'll take you on a little journey down political and policy memory lane with a look at the events that shaped these two parliaments and the MPs who served in them.
Labels: featured, minority government, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Monday, December 14, 2009
So who are our MPs?
As promised, here are a few more factoids about the group we're speaking with as part of our exit interviews. - An experienced group: the average tenure is just over 10 years. 28% served as cabinet ministers, 35% as parliamentary secretaries;
- Not all left willingly: 52% retired from federal politics and 48% were defeated;
- Slightly more female, relatively: 74% are male and 26% are female (slightly more female than the current House, which is just over 22% female);
- Official language mix: 75% noted English as their preferred language and 25% chose French (about 23% of Canadians note French as their first language);
- More likely to be born in Canada: 12% were born outside of Canada (about 20% of the Canadian population is foreign-born, according to the 2006 Census);
- Married with children: At least 76% of our former MPs are married or in a common-law relationship and 71% have children; and
- Very well educated: At least 70% have at least one university degree while 6% have college diplomas or apprenticeships (much higher than the average Canadian).
Watch this space most Mondays for more ....
Labels: MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Getting to know you...
Before Samara started our MP exit interviews, we spent a good chunk of the summer researching the backgrounds of the 139 former MPs that left public life during the 38th and 39th Parliaments.
The team read whatever it could on these folks, including CBC riding profiles, and biographical sketches from Library of Parliament, Wikipedia and, where available, from the MPs' own websites.Where possible, we also read supplementary articles on each of our MPs and the issues they were involved with.
So yes, by the time we started our interviews, we were prepared – and we had also learned a great deal of unexpected and surprising information about who these Canadian MPs are (as a group) and how they compared to the average Canadian.
For example, available information reveals that at least 76% of the former MPs in our group are married or in a common-law relationship, versus 59% of Canadian adults. A small and perhaps random tidbit, but one that takes on a great deal more significance as our interviews reveal how much personal and family factors influence one's experience in public life.
This background research will also allow us to organize our results in a way that allows us to compare across a wide number of factors, including the age at which they were elected, their profession before politics, their gender, their place of birth as well as their home riding and political party.
All of which to say, there will be many more stories like this. Most Mondays we'll post a factoid or two in the hopes it helps you learn just a bit more about political leadership in Canada.
Labels: featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Alumni Associations for MPs
Several months ago we told you about some of the great people we've met at the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. This group, non-profit and non-partisan, is comprised of those who have previously been in the Canadian Senate or House of Commons. It's kind of like the alumni association for ex-MPs and Senators, and they they have counterparts in many other countries, including the US and the UK.
The CAFP is supporting our MP Exit Interviews - giving us advice and helping us establish contact with and encourage the participation of their members. With this project, we are interviewing MPs who left public life after the 38th or 39th Parliaments (2004-2008) to learn what enabled and hindered their success, and what they'd suggest could be done to improve the experience of those in public life.
When they're not doing this, they're maintaining connections among their members and putting their knowledge and experience to work to advance of parliamentary democracy. Among other things, this includes school visits across Canada and training sessions to new Parliamentarians abroad. They also publish an alumni magazine, Beyond the Hill, and were kind enough to include a story about Samara's exit interview project in their most recent issue.
The US group's activities are similar in structure to those of the CAFP - promoting public service at home, strengthening representative democracy abroad and keeping their members in touch. There are a couple of insiders' publications that might interest the political junkies among you.
The British site cheekily emphasizes how little consideration is paid to people who've served in public life - a situation not unlike that we have in Canada. Several years ago, they commissioned a study into their members that shines a bit of light on former MPs. It's a bit more descriptive than the one we have planned, but it's always encouraging to learn from other experiments.
Labels: CAFP, featured, MP Exit Interviews, political leadership