Bounded Rationality or Strategically Bound: Canadian Election Platforms.

Political parties are often portrayed as having a limited ability to influence policy-making. This paper examines the policy capacity of political parties in Canada in relation to their ability to propose distinct policies of their own choosing and design to the electorate and in relation to the concept of the electoral mandate. It demonstrates that decisions as to what to include in election policy platforms are shaped to some degree by existing institutional arrangements and the policy environment, but that the key factor influencing policy content is the strategic actions and decisions of parties themselves. In particular, parties have established the key boundaries of policy debate in Canada and have altered the focus of electoral policy debate through tactical considerations, by what they perceive as the appropriate course of events or by attempting to position themselves in such a way so as to appeal to the broader electorate, including through the use of "wedge" politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]