Research

Patrick Fournier is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Université de Montréal. His research interests focus around the theme of political psychology, notably political behaviour, citizen competence, and opinion change. In addition to being the principal investigator of the 2011 and 2015 Canadian Election Study, he is also the principal investigator of a research project on reactions to negativity.

Research Interests

Political psychology

Public opinion and political preferences

Public Policy

Satisfaction with Democracy

Survey research

Voter Turnout and Other Forms of Electoral Participation

Research Axis

Axis 2: Practicing Citizenship in a Skeptical World - The practice of democratic citizenship is undergoing a multifaceted transition. There are fundamental changes in conceptions of democratic citizenship and in its practice as well as the targets of citizen action. Scepticism about representative democracy as a system of governance is growing and citizens across established democracies are withdrawing from politics. Their perception about the political world is impacted by transformations in the news media practices and by online content, including social media. Voting and party politics have been the basis of conventional interpretations of citizenship, but there is ample evidence that this conception is much too limited. New forms of communication are providing citizens with novel ways to gather information and to engage in politics.

Axis 3: Representing and Governing Citizens in Critical Times - After learning and practicing democratic citizenship, the next critical steps are representation and governance. Democratic institutions are key elements. They shape the norms and incentives for active citizenship and they link citizens and their representatives in ways that foster accountability, legitimacy and representation. In Québec and Canada, as well as in other countries, confidence of citizens toward the institutions is low, as many dislike the way that members of parliaments behave and consider that politicians don’t honour their promises, hence various political endeavours to reform these institutions. Research on this axis will focus on the role of electoral systems, parliaments, parliamentary debates, and political parties.

courses

POL 6607 - Psychologie et politique

theme

Responding to Citizens: Responsiveness, Representation and Accountability

Perceiving the Public World

Making Choice in Public Life

involvement

Working group: Speaker series

Publications