2026 CPSA Prize for the Best CJPS Article in Gender & Politics

Winner: Sylvia Bashevkin

Explaining Feminist Movement Impact: Provincial Abortion Policies in the Wake of Decriminalization, 1988–2018 (CJPS Vol 56:3, September 2023)

Excerpt from jury report: The article addresses a critical question of representation – responsiveness – and one with real world impact on the opportunities and lives of women; poor representation will cause harm to women. It is ambitious in both scope and design: a longitudinal approach allows for analysis over time of feminist movement impact, while a comparative analysis deepens explanatory leverage. Findings challenge extant assumptions derived from (seemingly non-gendered) party politics literature. The article demonstrates that centrist provincial leaders were often more receptive to women’s movement demands, which diverges from existing studies on childcare and violence against women. It shows that federal centrists played a key role in enabling provincial reform; that feminist critical actors operated at both federal and provincial levels; and that responsiveness within the NDP varied considerably