NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, policy, election, democracy, indigenous government

Objective(s): To gather information about the attitudes and opinions of voters in Tlicho Community Government elections about democracy, policy, and elections management.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.4967. This study is being done to gather information about the attitudes and opinions of voters in Tlicho Community Government elections about democracy, policy, and elections management. This survey is part of the Consortium on Electoral Democracy, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership grant that builds upon the long tradition of Canadian Election Studies (CES) and provincial election studies conducted by teams of researchers around the country since 1965. The Principal Investigator (PI) is interested in gathering data after the election campaign so they can track attitudes in relation to election events. There are three groups that will benefit from this study: 1. The Tlicho Government: The Tlicho Government is co-directing this survey and seeks to generate research on the development of its political system to inform future elections management and to serve as an example for other Indigenous governments developing their own electoral systems. 2. The research community: No election study of an Indigenous government’s electoral system has been conducted in North America. This would be the first of its kind and provide a basis for future Indigenous election studies. 3. Society: Indigenous governments are constitutionally recognized forms of government in Canada. By treating their elections as equivalent sites for the generation of political science research, the research team are demonstrating their importance and legitimacy alongside settler federal, provincial, and municipal governments. In addition, Indigenous governments negotiating their self-government agreements will benefit from high quality research on an existing Indigenous electoral system. This is a voting behaviour study using a survey methodology. The survey method follows the established procedures of the Canadian Election Study, which has been held during every federal election since 1965. Surveys will be conducted by phone in English or Tlicho. They will last approximately 20 minutes. Responses will be inputted by surveyors into Qualtrics. Participants will be contacted by postcard mailed to every household in the four Tlicho communities: Behchoko`, Gamètì, Wekweètì, and Whatì. This postcard will include a description of the project and a website address to the letter of information. It will be bilingual (English/Tlicho). Participants will be contacted by phone to take the survey. A script outlining participant rights and consent information will be read. Preliminary data analysis will be shared with the Tlicho Government’s research office in September 2021, followed by a public presentation delivered via Facebook. Additional information will be distributed via the Tlicho Government website and social media accounts, as well as through local radio and media in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 20, 2021 to December 31, 2021.