Book excerpt: Alain-G. Gagnon and A. Brian Tanguay continue the work of earlier editions of Canadian Parties in Transition by presenting a multi-faceted image of party dynamics, electoral behaviour, political marketing, and representative democracy, with chapters written by an outstanding team of political scientists. Innovative features of the third edition include an examination of party alignments and the mobilization of interests, a discussion of democratic participation, and a critical exploration of direct democracy through referendums and other mechanisms. The comparative literature on party politics is brought in systematically to provide a better account of Canadian party politics. The greater part of this volume consists of entirely new chapters; others have been completely revised and updated. An appendix that provides Canadian federal election results from 1925 to 2006 rounds out the book.