Research
My research focuses primarily on democratic institutions and democratic innovation. As a result, I often work at the intersection of democratic theory and empirical political science. Publications are organized here by topic: referendums and ballot initiatives, deliberative theory and practice, leaders’ debates, and other work.
Referendums and Ballot Initiatives
Book Project: McKay, Spencer. (Under review) Mass Legislation: A Democratic Theory of Popular Vote Processes. [Draft manuscript is available upon request]
McKay, Spencer. (2023) “Plebiscites, Referendums, and Ballot Initiatives as Institutions of Popular Sovereignty: Rousseau’s Influence on Competing Theories of Popular Vote Processes.” The Review of Politics.
el-Wakil, Alice and Spencer McKay. (2022) “La démocratie directe dans la théorie politique.” Démocraties Directes. (ed. Raul Magni-Berton and Laurence Morel), 65-74.
McKay, Spencer. (2022) “The Politics of Referendum Rules: Evidence from New Zealand (1893-2016).” Politics & Policy. 50 (1), 137-153. [Appendix]
McKay, Spencer. (2021) “Democratic Theory and the Empirical Study of Popular Vote Processes.” Democratic Theory. 8(1), 110–125.
el-Wakil, Alice and Spencer McKay. (2020) “Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes.” Representation. 56 (4), 449–466. [Ungated version]
el-Wakil, Alice and Spencer McKay. (2020) “Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Beyond ‘Direct Democracy’: Popular Vote Processes in Democratic Systems’.” Representation. 56 (4), 435–447.
McKay, Spencer. (2019) “Building a Better Referendum: Linking Mini-Publics and Mass Publics in Popular Votes.” Journal of Public Deliberation, 15 (1).
McKay, Spencer. (2018) “Designing Popular Vote Processes for Democratic Systems: Counter-proposals, Recurring Referendums, and Iterated Popular Votes.” Swiss Political Science Review, 24(3), 328–334. [Ungated version]
Deliberative Theory and Practice
McKay, Spencer. (Revised and resubmitted) “Democratic Innovations and the Working-Class.” Working-Class Politics and Representation in Canada. (ed. Jacob Robbins-Kanter and Royce Koop). [Draft available upon request]
McKay, Spencer and Chris Tenove. (2021). “Disinformation as a Threat to Deliberative Democracy.” Political Research Quarterly. 74 (3), 703-717. [Ungated version]
MacLeod, Peter, and Spencer McKay. (2018) “MASS LBP and Long-Form Deliberation in Canada.” Democratic Theory. 5(2), 108–13. [Ungated version]
Leaders’ Debates
Book Project: McKay, Spencer, Jacob Robbins-Kanter, and Inessa De Angelis. (In progress) Leaders' Debates in Canada.
McKay, Spencer. (Revised and resubmitted) “Leaders’ Debates.” Elections in Canada: People, Players and Processes. (ed. Tamara A. Small and Royce Koop). [Draft available upon request]
Other Work
McKay, Spencer. (2023). "Common-Pool Resources and Democracy." Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. [Ungated version]
Cameron, Maxwell A., Alessandra Ribeiro, Gerald Baier, Spencer McKay, Rebecca Alegría Monnerat, and Catherine Ann Cameron. (2022) “Partisanship and Political Learning: Lessons from Training Politicians.” Journal of Political Science Education.
McKay, Spencer and Mark E. Warren. (2018) “Democratizing Participatory Governance Through Countervailing Power.” Handbook of Participatory Governance (ed. Hubert Heinelt), 77-93. [CPSA 2017 Draft Version]