Canadian politics needs Carleton
Political staff at all levels – municipal, provincial, federal – wield considerable authority over how Canadians are governed, but until now there has been no formal training available to them in this country and little in the way of apprenticing or mentoring. A crucial element of the democratic process, therefore, has been left to on-the-job training, with a consequent weakness in the apparatus of governance.
A degree program in political craft designed to prepare a cadre of practitioners for their obligations and responsibilities is therefore a prominent contribution to the common weal, and one consistent not only with the traditions of Carleton University but its mandate as “Canada’s Capital University.”
A Canadian first
The Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management is an important first for Canada. Programs in applied political skills and analysis exist at other prestigious post-secondary institutions, including Fordham University in New York City and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Riddell program has been explicitly designed to inform and bolster electoral politics and parliamentary democracy in Canada and beyond.