Disengaged: Fixed Date, Democracy, and Understanding the 2011 Manitoba Election
University of Regina Press / 21 October 2015

Disengaged? Fixed Date, Democracy and Understanding the 2011 Manitoba Election By Andrea D. Rounce and Jared J. Wesley Published by University of Regina Press Review by Allison Kydd $39.95 ISBN 9780889773554 A book written primarily by academics for academics may not initially jump off the shelf. Then there are the realities of publishing date-sensitive material; contributors’ reasonable comments and assumptions can be out of date by time of publication. Yet Disengaged?, a disassembling of a particular election, identifies important issues and has implications beyond the province of Manitoba in 2011. It also made fascinating reading while the country was in the midst of the 2015 federal election campaign. As suggested by the title, Andrea Rounce, Jared Wesley and nine other contributors focus on voter engagement, as democracy depends on an engaged electorate. Insights about voter participation are also relevant outside Manitoba, and political science professor Wesley compares Manitoba voter trends with federal rates and those of other provinces. He also provides some historical background. Unfortunately, some comments are out of date. For instance, Wesley makes no mention of “the orange sweep” and election of New Democratic poster girl Rachel Notley in Alberta. Neither do speculations about the significance of a…