Elections in Oxford County, 1837-1875

Descripción

Elections in Oxford County, 1837-75 is a unique exploration of the forms, practices, and issues of democracyin a mid-nineteenth-century colonial setting. In this case study of thirty-eightelections in Oxford County first as part of the United Province of Canada,then in early Ontario George Emery delves into the advances, setbacks, andflaws of a partially democratic system. Emery demonstrates that while its formsand issues evolved, the net amount of democracy remained stable over time.Electionsin Oxford County, 1837-75 breaks new ground with its detailed treatment ofthe county's voice-vote method of election, which ended with the adoption ofthe secret ballot in 1874. Employing an idealized parliamentary democracy as anexplanatory model, Emery captures both geographically specific details and generalfeatures of this era's electoral process to enrich current understandings ofnineteenth-century Canadian democracy.