Kate Puddister, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Guelph
I am an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. My research and teaching focus on law and politics, criminal justice policy, policing, sentencing, and Canadian politics. I teach courses in the Political Science and the Criminal Justice and Public Policy programs. I am the author of Seeking the Court’s Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power (2019, UBC Press). My work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Policing & Society, Party Politics, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Law & Policy, among other scholarly venues. I have contributed expert analysis to governments and media outlets.
Before joining the Department of Political Science, I completed a Ph.D. in Political Science at McGill University, an M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy and an honours B.A. in Criminal Justice and Public Policy at the University of Guelph. I was the Eakin Visiting Fellow at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada in Fall 2022. I am a founding member and co-organizer of the Courts and Politics Research Group. I currently serve on the editorial boards for the Canadian Journal of Political Science and Canadian Journal of Law and Society.
I will be on leave in the Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 semesters.
Recent Publications & Current Projects
Books:
2022. Constitutional Crossroads: Contemplations on Charter Rights, Reconciliation and Constitutional Change (UBC Press) with Emmett Macfarlane.
2019. Seeking the Court’s Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power (UBC Press).
Disciplinary Divides in the Study of Law and Politics (University of Toronto Press). Accepted for publication. with Emmett Macfarlane.
Journal Articles:
2025. “After the Injunction: The Role of the Courts in Policing First Nation Resistance in B.C,” Canadian Journal of Native Studies 42(1): 1-24. with Minh Do.
2024. “Police Oversight in Practice: The Special Investigations Unit and Civilian Police Oversight in Ontario, Canada,” Policing & Society 34(8): 831-845. with Danielle McNabb.
2024. “To Serve and Protect? An Empirical Study of Police-Involved Sexual Assault,” Women & Criminal Justice 34(2): 149-170. with Danielle McNabb.
2024. “Common Sense Justice? Comparing Populist and Mainstream Right Positions on Law and Order in 24 Countries,” Party Politics 30(2): 223-235. with Edward Koning.
2023. “Civilian Police Oversight and Accountability for Serious Incidents in Canada: Who Polices the Police?” Canadian Public Administration 66(3): 390-408
2021. “What We’ve Got Here is Failure to Cooperate: Provincial Governments and the Canadian Reference Power,” Revue Générale de Droit 51(2): 91-128.
2021. “When the Police Break the Law: The Investigation, Prosecution and Sentencing of Ontario Police Officers,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society. 36(3): 381-404. with Danielle McNabb.
2021. “How the Canadian Sentencing System Impacts Policy Reform — An Examination of the Harper Era,” Law & Policy 43(2): 149-169.
2020. “Play-by-Play Justice: Tweeting Criminal Trials in the Digital Age,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 35(1): 1-22. with Tamara A. Small.
2020. “Tweet Justice: The Canadian Court’s Use of Social Media.” American Review of Canadian Studies 50(2): 229-244. with Andrew Mattan and Tamara A. Small.
2020. “Trial by Zoom? The Response to COVID-19 By Canada’s Courts,” Canadian Journal of Political Science 53(2): 373-377. with Tamara Small.
2019. “The Canadian Reference Power: Delegation to the Courts and the Navigation of Federalism.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism. 49(4): 561-586.
2019. “A Question They Can’t Refuse? Judicial Independence and the Power to Refuse Reference Questions.” Canadian Political Science Review. 13(1): 34-71.
2019. “Navigating the Principle of Open Court in the Digital Age: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same,” Canadian Public Administration 62(2): 202-224, with Tamara A. Small.
2017. “Criminal Justice Policy During the Harper Era: Private Members’ Bills, Penal Populism, and the Criminal Code of Canada,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 32(3):391-415. with James B. Kelly.
2012. “The RCMP’s Mr. Big Undercover Investigation Technique: A Case Study of Police Independence, Accountability and Oversight,” Canadian Public Administration 55(3): 385-409. with Troy Riddell.
Please contact me for other publications or a copy of my CV.
Current Projects
“How do Canadian Civilian Oversight Agencies Respond to Police Sexual Violence?” Funded by SSHRC Insight Grant. with Danielle McNabb.
“An Unspeakable Breach of Trust: Police Perpetrated Gender-based Violence in Ontario,” Funded by SSHRC Insight Development Grant. with Danielle McNabb.
Canadian Courts in the Digital Age. with Tamara A. Small.
Canadian sentencing policy.
Law and Politics in Canada.
The Canadian Reference Power.
“Policing by Consent: Evaluating Civilian Police Oversight in Ontario” Funded by SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Completed.
Teaching & Supervisions
I am happy to collaborate with undergraduate and graduate students on a variety of topics:
Criminal justice policy: policing policy, police oversight and accountability, undercover policing and Mr. Big, sentencing policy and law, criminal justice policymaking, and more
Law and politics: judicial power and judicial review, advisory opinions and the Canadian reference power, the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Supreme Court of Canada, the judicialization of politics, judicial independence, policy impact and more
Canadian politics: political institutions, public policy and federalism
Teaching
POLS*1150 Understanding Politics
POLS*3130 Law, Politics and Judicial Process
POLS*3300 Governing Criminal Justice
POLS*3300 (DE) Governing Criminal Justice
POLS*4050 Advanced Topics in Law and Politics (Sentencing and Penal Policy)
POLS*4060 Advanced Lecture in Law and Politics (Sentencing and Penal Policy)
POLS*4110 Criminal Justice Policy and Law
POLS*4130 Advanced Lecture in Criminal Justice Policy and Law
POLS*6200 Law and Politics
POLS*6960 Dialogue Theory and Its Critics (reading course)
CJPP*6000 Courts
CJPP*6100 Governing Criminal Justice
Knowledge Mobilization & Media
My research on police oversight and the prosecution of Ontario police officers was profiled by the Toronto Star:
Researchers Tracked Nearly 150 Charges Against Ontario Police Officers Since 2005. Most Ended in Acquittal or Withdrawn Charges, by Wendy Gillis.
Recent Publications:
2024. “Does the Ontario Special Investigations Unit Need a Broader Mandate to Improve Police Oversight?” The Conversation, with Danielle McNabb.
2022. “Convictions Remain Rare When Police are Accused of Sexual Assault.” The Conversation, with Danielle McNabb
2022. “What Happens When Police Commit Crimes?” Policy Options, with Danielle McNabb
2019. “#MeToo: In Canada, Rape Myths Continue to Prevent Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors,” The Conversation, with Danielle McNabb. This piece was part of The Conversation’s coverage of International Women’s Day
2018 “Police Investigation in Tina Fontaine’s Murder: Rethinking the Mr. Big Method.” The Conversation.
I am a frequent commentator in national and local media on a variety of issues relating to law and politics, police oversight and accountability, and criminal justice policy.
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Contact
Kate Puddister
Department of Political Science
University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
519-824-4120 x.52424
kpuddist@uoguelph.ca
