Event Date: October 31, 2016 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Location: FSS 4004, 120 University Private

Presented by CIPS 

The Referendum Integrity Project (RIP) is an international research project aimed at assessing the fairness, legitimacy, and legality of referendums all over the world. This project is headed by Matt Qvortrup and Guy Lachapelle with the collaboration of scholars from different parts of the world.

With a growing number of popular votes on issues ranging from sovereignty and independence (Brexit) to mundane (ride-sharing such as Uber) or controversial policy matters (e.g., same sex marriage in Ireland and Croatia), questions regarding the fair conduct of referendums are important for policy-makers, diplomats, and academics.

Given the importance and long-term implications of referendums, it is crucial that they be regarded as fair and legitimate. Yet, more often than not, the outcome is marred in accusations of foul play. On a number of occasions, unequal campaign spending, biased information by the media, or vote-counting errors have raised questions about the fairness of the process. The Referendum Integrity Project will address these concerns by analyzing best-practices and assessing fairness through a combination of legal analysis and expert testimony.

Guy Lachapelle is a Professor at Concordia University. He has been the Secretary General of the International Political Science Association since 2000. He acted as an international observer for the British Electoral Commission during the Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014. He is also a member of the L’Institut de recherche sur l’autodétermination des peuples et les indépendances (IRAI – https://irai.quebec/linstitut/).  His most recent publications include:

• Political Parties in the Digital Age (De Gruyter, 2015)
• L’analyse des politiques publiques (PUM, 2011)
• Le destin américain du Québec : Américanité, américanisation et anti-américanisme (PUL, 2010)
• Le Bloc Québécois – 20 ans au nom du Québec (Richard Vézina Éditeur, 2010)