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A compilation of links to my articles dealing with the electoral weakness of the Conservative Party of Canada.
One question relating to electoral behavior has been on the minds of many Canadians: Why do immigrants coming from conservative societies tend to vote disproportionately for parties with socially liberal policies? One of the explanations offered is that they are induced by promises of ‘free money’.
As the spring of 2020 was coming to an end, I had an exchange on social media about an article (on a different subject) that I had written. This exchange helped me to arrive at an alternative explanation for the anomalous voting behavior. I wrote down my thoughts in another article. In turn, this later article led to further interactions with several people who had questions or suggestions, leading me to write further articles, and so on. Eventually, I ended up writing a series of articles, each examining a different aspect or factor that makes the Conservative Party of Canada uncompetitive in elections.
After writing the article that I think is the final one in the series, I thought it would be helpful to provide a list of links to all these articles in one place, for ease of reference. Here is the list, with a synopsis of the main idea explored in each article:
- Windward Islands: Why new Canadians coming from conservative societies tend to vote disproportionately for parties with socially liberal policies: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/windward-islands/
- You’re Next: What brings socially conservative new immigrants under the same roof with groups that they would be normally incompatible with (e.g. LGBTQ etc) in terms of supporting the socially liberal parties: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/youre-next/
- Paging Sun Tzu – Part 1: The ‘image deficit’ of Conservatives, and a historical example from India on how structural disadvantages can be overcome: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/paging-sun-tzu-part-1/
- Paging Sun Tzu – Part 2: Applying the lessons of the Indian example to the challenges facing the Conservative Party, this article lists practical suggestions to overcome the ‘image deficit’: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/paging-sun-tzu-part-2/
- Sounds Of Silence: Highlighting the Conservatives’ weakness on the front of communications: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/sounds-of-silence/
- Houses Of Ill Repute: The need for Conservatives to create an ecosystem of media outlets to reach voters, including, specifically, those who do not consume their media in English: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/houses-of-ill-repute/
- Belated Bursts: The need to have an ongoing outreach on a continuous basis, rather than limiting it to campaign periods: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/belated-bursts/
- Where Art Thou?: Customizing outreach efforts to areas / ridings where the Party doesn’t hold the seat, but can win with effort: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/where-art-thou/
- Missing Arsenal: Suggestions to overcome the drawback of going into an election with inadequate resources: https://darshanmaharaja.ca/missing-arsenal/
I am immensely thankful to all those who provided ideas, suggestions and constructive criticism for this series of articles. Given the nature of the internet, I do not know the real names of many of them, and cannot recall the user names of everyone who helped along in this exercise. To the extent that value is derived by anyone from these articles, it will be a testament to the worth of a free flow of ideas, views and opinions. May speech always remain free.