Faron Ellis has been engaging Lethbridge College students in applied research projects for the past 20 years by integrating research into their course work, twice being honored with the Lethbridge College Students’ Association and Faculty Association Teaching Excellence Award (2007 and 2016).
In 2001, Faron organized students’ course-based applied research into the Citizen Society Research Lab (CSRL), which has been recognized with multiple awards including the Colleges and Institutes Canada 2015 bronze medal for Innovation in Applied Research Excellence. As CSRL Research Chair, he now provides applied research opportunities to over 500 Lethbridge College students in a variety of programs and academic centres across the institution.
As principal investigator of CSRL research, Faron has authored over 150 public opinion research reports. His other political science research in Canadian government, including two books, over 30 academic essays, journal publication and book chapters, and over 65 newspaper and magazine essays and op-eds, has led to him being recognized as a national authority on political parties and elections.
Aside from the time he spent studying political science at the University of Calgary (B.A. ’87 and Ph. D ’97) and Carleton University (M.A. ’89), Faron is a lifelong Lethbridge resident.
Areas of expertise
- political science
- public opinion
- Canadian and Alberta politics
- local government
Current research project
The Citizen Society Research Lab conducts annual public opinion studies of Alberta (fall semester) and Lethbridge (winter semester). During the 2017-18 academic year the CSRL will continue to explore issues of student and public interest, including environmental and political issues, advance care planning for the Advance Care Planning Collaborative Research and Innovation Opportunities Program (fall) and performance evaluations for Lethbridge Police Service (winter). Find out more about CSRL.
Publications and presentations
- The Limits of Participation: Members and Leaders in Canada’s Reform Party (2005)
- Stephen Harper and the 2015 Conservative Campaign: Defeated but Not Devastated (2016)
- Twenty-First Century Conservatives Can Continue to Succeed (2015)
- Twenty-First Century Conservatives Can Continue to Success (2013)
- The Conservative Campaign: Becoming the New Natural Governing Party (2011)
- Stephen Harper and the Conservatives Campaign on Their Record (2009)
- A Change of Government, not a Change of Country: Conservatives in the 2006 Federal Election (2006)
- Twenty-First Century Conservatives Can Success (2006)
- New Conservatives, Old Realities: The 2004 Election Campaign (2004)
- The More Things Change... The Alliance Campaign (2001)
- Not for Fame or Fortune: Membership and Activity Patterns in Canada's New Reform Party (2000)
- Reform at the Crossroads: The 1997 Election (1997)
- Opinion Structure of Party Activists: The Reform Party of Canada (1994)
- Reform: Electoral Breakthrough (1994)
- Legislators and Their World: A Survey of Alberta MLAs (1989)
View a complete list of Faron Ellis' publications.