Big City Elections in Canada, edited by Jack Lucas and R. Michael McGregor, addresses two key questions: Why do voters vote—or not vote—at the municipal level? And why do they vote the way they do?

The empirical basis for the volume is data from Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES) survey (of which McGregor is the principal investigator) of voters and non-voters in eight Canadian municipalities: Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, London, Mississauga, Toronto and Winnipeg. As the authors note, the CMES is the first large individual-level academic study of municipal elections in Canada. The CMES was designed to generate the individual-level data required to study a wide variety of questions about local electors. It involved a two-stage panel survey of electors in the eight cities listed above, with a questionnaire before the election day and second questionnaire shortly after the election day. The study collected responses from nearly 15,000 residents during municipal elections in 2017 and 2018.

Each city included in the CMES is the subject of a chapter written by different authors. Several of these authors are part of the CMES research team, and all the authors have a thorough knowledge of the city they cover. Lucas and McGregor ensure the transparency of the analysis by providing the reader with the CMES survey questions. However, one point that remains unresolved is the selection of the eight municipalities. The authors report that they selected eight large cities in Canada for their analyses, but the municipalities of Edmonton and Ottawa were excluded. The authors offer an explanation (see note 11 in chapter 1) by stating that the selection of cases was influenced by logistical, financial and time considerations. Nonetheless, it is unfortunate that some of Canada's largest municipalities were not included in the analysis.

Regarding the structure of the book, Lucas and McGregor provide a well-assembled volume where each of the chapters follows the same format, while addressing different cases. This guides readers through the book and gives them the opportunity to make their own comparisons. Each chapter discusses the context of the municipality, an election overview—mayoral campaign, council races, issues and events, election result—as well as the vote choice. It is a design that allows for great cohesion among the different chapters.

This book is a necessity in the field of urban politics. Such a book—offering not only a specific perspective on individual municipal elections but also a broader view of how various themes (such as the theory of a third-party emergence, the effect of the affordability issue or the effect of the electoral reform on voting attitudes) manifest in each of the municipalities analyzed—advances our knowledge of this still little explored field. Indeed, the structural characteristics of Canadian federalism, characterized by the predominance of provincial governments in municipal affairs, have produced a literature more attuned to national or regional rather than local policy issues, which limits the literature on Canadian urban policy (Eidelman and Taylor, Reference Eidelman and Taylor2010). The book's various themes provide researchers interested in local issues with in-depth, unprecedented analyses of the situation in Canada. For new researchers or students, this book presents well-established theories—often focused on American cities—and demonstrates how they can be applied to our Canadian cities. I also think it is a good book to introduce students to issues surrounding Canadian urban electoral politics. Finally, the book is also relevant to the general public who are interested in this topic. Indeed, the authors write in an accessible style that does not limit the audience to the academic community.

I dare say it is about time we had a book that focuses exclusively on municipal elections in Canada, so I highly recommend it! However, since this book is based exclusively on survey work, it presents only quantitative data. As a result, it does not allow for a full understanding of the meanings, reasons or importance given to voter participation at the municipal level by voters. The addition of qualitative analysis would have provided a more comprehensive presentation of municipal elections research in Canada. I suggest that this be considered in a future edition.