Dr. Shanaya Vanhooren
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
Canadian Municipal Barometer Partnership
I am a postdoctoral research fellow at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (Urbanisation, Culture, Société) working for the Canadian Municipal Barometer partnership. My research focuses on representation and public policy in Canadian politics. I am especially interested in the historical evolution of provincial party systems, provincial party system polarization, and policy issues and their perception in urban and local politics.
I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Western Ontario in the Department of Political Science. My dissertation research used political party election platforms to investigate party position change and programmatic polarization in provincial elections since 1945. As a researcher, I draw on various tools, such as quantitative text analysis, archival research, and interviews.
Outside of academia, I am a Director and Vice-Chair for Nature's Calling Environmental Education - a non-profit organization in my local community. Long walks with my two dogs in local towns in and around Norfolk County is one of my favourite past times.
Research Interests
Provincial political parties’ policy positions · Local politics · Representation · Public policy