Christopher Kam (Ph.D. Rochester, 2002): I study comparative political institutions, maintaining a special interest in the nature and evolution of parliamentary democracy.  I have just finished a book on intra-party politics in parliamentary government and have written several papers on ministerial selection and cabinet reshuffles, a topic on which I continue to work.  I am increasingly interested in the historical development of institutions, and this interest is reflected in my current research projects on the evolution of free and fair elections in Victorian Britain and on political instability in pre-Confederation Canada.  At the undergraduate level, I teach introductory classes on Canadian politics and game theory; at the graduate level, I teach courses on comparative political institutions, parliamentary politics, and formal theory.

CV & Current Research Follow the links below to see some of my current research CV Party Discipline and Parliamentary Politics Cabinet Reshuffles Electoral Corruption in Victorian Britain Political Instability in the Canadas, 1847-76

• Kam, C.  2009.  Party Discipline and Parliamentary Government.  Cambridge University Press.
  
• Indridason, I & C. Kam. 2008. "Cabinet Reshuffles & Ministerial Drift." British Journal of Political Science 38:  621-56.
  
• Kam, C. 2006. "Demotion and Dissent in the Canadian Liberal Party." British Journal of Political Science 36: 561-74.
• Kam, C. & I. Indridason. 2005. "The Timing of Cabinet Reshuffles in Five Westminster Parliamentary Systems." Legislative Studies Quarterly 30: 327-63.
  
• Kam, C. 2001. "Do Ideological Preferences Explain Parliamentary Behaviour: Evidence From Great Britain and Canada." Journal of Legislative Studies 7: 89-126.
• Kam, C. 2000. "Parliamentary 'Cowboys and Indians': Ministerial Responsibility and Bureaucratic Drift." Governance 13: 365-92.

Graduate Courses:

POLI 516A: Comparative Political Institutions (Fall 2009)

Undergraduate Courses:

POLI310: Parliament & Party - The Strategy of Politics (Fall 2009)

(Please note that Dr. Kam does not keep wait lists or otherwise offer special admission to undergraduate classes.)

Graduate students interested in studying comparative political institutions (or Canadian political institutions in a comparative context) should contact Professor Kam.