• University of Edinburgh
• School of Social and Political Studies

Institute of Governance

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On research leave until February 2012. 

 Qualifications

• BaccalaurÉat Ès sciences sociales, science politique (UniversitÉ d'Ottawa)
• MSc Social Research (Edinburgh)
• PhD  Politics (Edinburgh)

Current Teaching and Research Interests

Dr Ailsa Henderson joined the department in 2007 from the University of Toronto and currently holds a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (2008-2010) to conduct research on the constituent political cultures of Europe.  Dr Henderson conducts research on political culture(s) in federal and multi-national states.  Most of this work focuses on variations in political culture at the sub-state level and explores how national identity, federalism, devolution or institutional design can affect regional variations in political attitudes and behaviours.

Dr Henderson currently holds research grants on political parties and voting behaviour in Scotland and Quebec (SSHRCC), regional attitudes in Europe (Citizenship After the Nation State - ESF), predictors of turnout in sub-state elections (SSHRCC) and compulsory volunteering and civic engagement among young people (Imagine Canada/SSHRCC).  She has worked as a researcher for the Committee on Standards in Public Life, as a consultant for various departments in the Government of Nunavut and in 2007 served as working groups chair for the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. She is co-editor of Regional and Federal Studies.

Dr Henderson teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in quantitative methods, research methods and research design, and British/Scottish politics.

Dr Henderson is convenor of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties research group, a member of the Territorial Politics research group and an Associate Director of the Institue of Governance.

PhD Supervision

Dr Henderson is able to offer PhD supervision on comparative as well as UK and Canadian topics covering 3 themes:

-electoral behaviour, electoral systems and electoral reform

-territorial politics and federalism, nationalism and devolution

- political culture, political attitudes and public opinion

Publications

Dr Henderson is the author of five books including two monographs: Hierarchies of Belonging: national identity and political culture in Scotland and Quebec (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007) and Nunavut: Rethinking Political Culture (UBC Press  2007).  She is the editor of Nunavut at Ten (special issue of the Journal of Canadian Studies 43(2) 2009), and Why Regions Matter: Sub-state Polities as Small Worlds (special issue of Regional and Federal Studies 20(4/5) 2010) and co-editor (with Colin Coates) of Scotland-Quebec: An Evolving Comparison (special issue of British Journal of Canadian Studies 18 (1/2) 2007).

She has published more than twenty five refereed articles or book chapters. Recent outlets include Electoral Studies, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Legislative Studies, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, National Identities, Canadian Public Policy, Journal of Canadian Studies and Bulletin d’histoire politique.

Recent Publications include:

2010

Ailsa Henderson, Why Regions Matter: Sub-state Polities as Small Worlds, Guest editor, Regional and Federal Studies 20(4/5) 

Ailsa Henderson "Why Regions Matter: Sub-state Polities in Comparative Perspective" Regional and Federal Studies 20(4/5): 441-447

Ailsa Henderson " 'Small Worlds' as Predictors of General Political Attitudes" Regional and Federal Studies 20(4/5): 471-87

Ailsa Henderson and Nicola McEwen "A Comparative Analysis of Voter Turnout in Regional Elections" Electoral Studies  29(3): 405-16 

2009

Ailsa Henderson "Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Political Cultures and Regions in Canada" in Heather MacIvor (ed) Election. Toronto: Emond Montgomery

Ailsa Henderson, Nunavut at 10, Guest editor, Journal of Canadian Studies, 43(2) 2009

Ailsa Henderson "Lessons for Social Science in the Study of New Polities: Nunavut at 10" Journal of Canadian Studies 2009 43(2): 5-22

Ailsa Henderson "Institutional Boundaries and Regionalism: Social, Economic and Political Regions in the Canadian Arctic" Journal of Canadian Studies 2009 43(2): 109-36

2008

Ailsa Henderson "Satisfaction with democracy: evidence from Westminster systems" Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 2008 18(1): 3-26

Ailsa Henderson "Self-government in Nunavut" in Yale Belanger (ed) Aboriginal Self-government in Canada (Saskatoon: Purich, 2008) 222-239

2007
Ailsa Henderson Hierarchies of Belonging and Political Inclusion: national identity and political culture in Scotland and Quebec. (Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007)

Ailsa Henderson Nunavut: Rethinking Political Culture (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007)

Colin Coates and Ailsa Henderson “Scotland-Quebec: An Evolving Comparison” Guest editors, British Journal of Canadian Studies 18(2) 2007

Ailsa Henderson, Steven D. Brown, Kimberly Ellis-Hale and S. Mark Pancer “The effect of mandatory volunteering in high school on civic engagement: the case of the ‘double cohort’ in Ontario, Canada” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 2007 36 (7): 849-60 

Ailsa Henderson “Identity measurement in Scotland and Quebec: the meaning and salience of identity markers” British Journal of Canadian Studies 2007 18(1/2): 269-91

Ailsa Henderson “Cultural renaissance or economic emancipation: predictors of support for devolution in Nunavut” Journal of Canadian Studies 2007 41(2): 1-23

Ailsa Henderson “A Porous and Pragmatic Settlement: Asymmetrical Devolution and Democratic Constraint in Scotland and Wales” in Andrew McDonald (ed) Reinventing Britain (London: Methuen, 2007) 151-69

Ailsa Henderson “Politics without parties: citizen engagement and interest articulation in consensus systems” in Alain G. Gagnon and Brian Tanguay (eds) Canadian  Parties in Transition, 3rd ed. (Peterborough: Broadview, 2007): 215-240.

2006
Ailsa Henderson, Steven D. Brown, David Docherty, Barry Kay and Kimberly Ellis-Hale “Voter Dealignment or Campaign Effects: Accounting for Political Preferences in Ontario” American Review of Canadian Studies 2006 36 (4): 612-26.

Steven D. Brown, David Docherty, Ailsa Henderson, Barry Kay and Kimberly Ellis-Hale “Exit polling in Canada: An Experiment” Canadian Journal of Political Science 2006 39(4): 919-33

Ailsa Henderson “Consequences of Electoral Reform: lessons for Canada” Canadian Public Policy 2006 32(1): 41-58