Dennis Pilon

Dennis Pilon Research interests: Dr. Pilon’s research interests include: Canadian politics, BC politics, comparative democratization and electoral reform, media and citizen engagement, class analysis, working class politics, and sexuality politics.

Dr. Pilon teaches courses on Canadian politics, BC politics, Canadian and comparative elections, and class politics.

Contact Dr. Pilon

Office Hours: by appointment
Office: SSM A351
Phone: 250-721-6430
Email: pilon@uvic.ca

Bio

Dennis Pilon received his Bachelor (Sociology/History) and Masters (History) from Simon Fraser University and his PhD from York University (Politics). In 2005/06 he was the Canada Research Chair Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. Before coming to the University of Victoria in 2006 he taught politics courses at York University, the University of Toronto and Trent University.

His research has focused primarily on issues of democratization and democratic reform in western countries in both contemporary and historical contexts. His published work includes contributions to the Canadian Political Science Review, the Journal of Canadian Studies, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Canadian Parliamentary Review, Socialist Studies, and Labour/Le Travail, as well as reports for the Law Commission of Canada, the Centre for Social Justice, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In 2007 he published The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada’s Electoral System and in 2009 co-edited (with Michael Howlett and Tracy Summerville) British Columbia Politics and Government.

Over the past decade, Professor Pilon has done considerable public speaking and media work commenting on many aspects of politics with reporters from print, radio and television, particularly on topics relating to elections and political parties. He is presently a member of the National Advisory Board of Fair Vote Canada, a citizens’ group focused on gaining more proportional methods of voting for Canadian elections, and is a member of the editorial board of Canadian Dimension magazine. He has also acted as a consultant on election issues for various legal firms, political parties, trade unions, community groups, and the Auditor General of Canada.

Aside from all things political, his interests include record collecting, vintage clothes, science fiction, and his husband Dann and daughter Ryann.

Publications

Books

British Columbia Politics and Government, (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2009), co-edited with Michael Howlett and Tracy Summerville.
The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada's Electoral System, (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2007).

Journal Articles

“Investigating Media as a Deliberative Space: Newspaper Opinions about Voting Systems in the 2007 Ontario Provincial Referendum,” Canadian Political Science Review, 3: 3 (September 2009): 1-23.
“Explaining Voting System Reform in Canada: 1874 to 1960,” Journal of Canadian Studies, 40:3 (Autumn 2006), 135-61.
“Socialist Democracy: What Role for Marxism?” Socialist Studies Bulletin, 71 (Fall 2003), 5-22.

Book Chapters

“Understanding Electoral Systems,” in Heather McIvor ed., Election, (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2009).
“Introduction,” in Michael Howlett, Dennis Pilon and Tracy Summerville, eds, Politics and Government in British Columbia, (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2009), co-written with Michael Howlett and Tracy Summerville.
“Democracy, BC style,” in Michael Howlett, Dennis Pilon and Tracy Summerville, eds, Politics and Government in British Columbia, (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2009).
“Elections and Electoral Reform,” in Joan Grace and Byron Sheldrick (eds.), Canadian Politics: Democracy and Dissent, (Toronto: Pearson, 2006).
“The Uncertain Path of Democratic Renewal in Ontario,” in Henry Milner (ed.), Steps Toward Making Every Vote Count: Electoral System Reform in Canada and its Provinces, (Peterborough: Broadview, 2004).
“The History of Voting System Reform in Canada,” in Henry Milner (ed.), Making Every Vote Count: Reassessing Canada’s Electoral System, (Peterborough: Broadview, 1999).

Reports

Renewing Canadian Democracy: Citizen Engagement in Voting System Reform. Phase One: Lessons from Around the World, Law Commission of Canada, March 2002.
Canada's Democratic Deficit: Is Proportional Representation the Answer?, Toronto: CSJ Foundation for Research and Education, 2001, 35pp.
Labour in British Columbia, A Comprehensive Bibliography, Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 1997 (with Todd McCallum and Andy Parnaby).

Submissions

“Brief for the Quebec voting system case,” Filed in Quebec provincial court July 2008.
“Capital Region Redistribution – Recommendations,” Submission to the BC Electoral Boundary Commission, January 17, 2008.
“Super majority rules and voting system referendums,” Submission to the Ontario Legislative Committee Hearings on Bill 155, February 5, 2007.
“Making Marriage Plural: Some Positive Social Implications of the Extension of Marriage Rights to Gays and Lesbians,” Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights: Hearings on Same-Sex Marriage, Toronto, April 10, 2003.
“STV - The Electoral Option for Canada," Submission to the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, April 1990.

Book Reviews

Review of In and Out of the Working Class, by Michael Yates, Socialist Studies, 6:1 (Spring 2010), 187-9.
Review of In Search of Canadian Political Culture, by Nelson Wiseman, BC Studies, 159 (Autumn 2008), 152-5.
Review of Elections, by John Courtney, Canadian Parliamentary Review, 28:3 (Autumn 2005).
Review of Paradigm Shift: Globalization and the Canadian State, by Stephen McBride, Canadian Journal of Political Science, 36:2 (June 2003).
Review of The End of Parliamentary Socialism, by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, Labour/Le Travail, 44 (Autumn 1999).
Review of Homo Economics, edited by Amy Gluckman and Betsy Reed, Labour/Le Travail, 42 (Autumn 1998).

Conference Papers

“The 2005 and 2009 Referenda on Voting System Change in British Columbia,” Paper prepared for BC Political Studies Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, May 7-8, 2010.
“Decidedly Different Democratic Reforms: The Political Fate of Fixed Election Dates Versus Voting System Reform in Ontario,” Paper prepared for the Canadian Political Science Association Annual General Meeting, Carleton University, Ottawa, May 27-29, 2009.
“Voting System Reform in the Twentieth Century West: A Comparative Historical Approach,” Paper presented to the European Consortium for Political Research, Lisbon 2009 Joint Sessions of Workshops, Lisbon, Portugal, April 14-19, 2009.
“Facts or Rhetoric? Elite Media Debate about Voting Systems in the 2007 Ontario Referendum Campaign,” Paper prepared for the Canadian Political Science Association Annual General Meeting, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 4-6, 2008.
“BC-STV and the Representation of Women: Popular debate, Academic insights, and the Evidence from Comparative Experience – A Research Note.” Paper presented to the BC Political Studies Association, Capilano College, North Vancouver, May 4-5, 2007.
“Local Members and the Size of Canadian Legislatures,” Paper presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, York University, Toronto, June 1-3, 2006 (co-authored with David Docherty).
“Voting System Reform and the Left: An International Comparison,” Paper presented to Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, University of Toronto, May 29, 2002.
“Voter Registration in Ontario: Is There a Bias?” Paper presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Quebec City, June 2, 2001 (co-authored with Robert MacDermid and Jon Carson).
“Making Voting Reform Count: Evaluating Historical Voting Reform Strategies in British Columbia,” Making Votes Count Conference, Vancouver, May 13, 2000.
“Democracy, Social Movements and the State: Towards an Interactionist Mode of Representation,” Paper presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, University of Ottawa, June 2, 1998.
“Proportional Representation in Canada: An Historical Sketch,” Paper presented to Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Memorial University, St. Johns, Nfld., June 10, 1997. (Winner of the 1997 Canadian Political Science Association Graduate Paper Prize.)
“Social Credit and the Transferable Ballot; Demystifying the 1952 and 1953 B.C. Provincial Elections,” Qualicum Conference, Parkesville, BC, February, 1996.