Elections in Oxford County, 1837-1875: A Case Study of Democracy in Canada West and Early Ontario

Elections in Oxford County, 1837-75 is a unique exploration of the forms, practices, and issues of democracy in a mid-nineteenth-century colonial setting. In this case study of thirty-eight elections in Oxford County - first as part of the United Province of Canada, then in early Ontario - George Emery delves into the advances, setbacks, and flaws of a partially democratic system. Emery demonstrates that while its forms and issues evolved, the net amount of democracy remained stable over time. Elections in Oxford County, 1837-75 breaks new ground with its detailed treatment of the county's voice-vote method of election, which ended with the adoption of the secret ballot in 1874. Employing an idealized parliamentary democracy as an explanatory model, Emery captures both geographically specific details and general features of this era's electoral process to enrich current understandings of nineteenth-century Canadian democracy.