Clark Banack, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Community-Engaged Research Rural Issues Energy and Environment Agriculture and Food Canadian and Alberta Politics Populism Religion and Politics Program: Ethics and Global Studies Program: Law Crime and Justice Studies

About

I am a political scientist who specializes in Rural politics, Canadian and Provincial Politics and Public Policy, Religion and Politics, and Political Theory.  I am also the Director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, the only University-based centre in the province dedicated entirely to conducting academic research and community outreach on issues facing rural Alberta.  Our mission is to link the research and educational capacity of the U of A with rural communities, community organizations, and policy makers at multiple levels across the province in order to support the improved well-being of rural communities and citizens.  I am also from, and continue to reside in, rural Alberta.  

Education: 

PhD (Political Science) University of British Columbia (2012)

MA (Political Science) University of British Columbia (2005)

BA (Honours) St. Francis Xavier University (2003)

Recent Academic Grants and Awards:

SSHRC Insight Grant, 2026-2031 ($431 705). Exploring the social and political implications of the consolidation, death, and even rebirth, of local newspapers in rural Canada and the USA, Primary Investigator

Alberta Real Estate Foundation Grant, 2025-26 ($149 830). “Addressing the Issue of Under-utilized Commercial Real Estate in Rural Alberta,” Primary Investigator

Alberta Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 2025 ($102 280). "Policy Responses to Assist with Farm Succession Planning in Alberta," Primary Investigator

SSHRC Insight Grant, 2023 – 2027 ($338 337). "Pathways to Energy Democracy in Canada,” Co-Investigator (PI: Dr. John Parkins, Alberta)

2022: Awarded the John McMenemy Prize for authoring the best article published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science in 2021.

SSHRC Insight Development Grant, 2022-24 ($74 594).  “Understanding Social and Political Attitudes in Rural Canada via Ethnography.” Primary Investigator

Research

Books:

Banack, Clark and Jim Farney, Faith, Rights, and Choice: The Politics of Religious Schools in Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2023.

Banack, Clark, and Dionne Pohler, eds. Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada, University of Alberta Press, 2023.

Banack, Clark. God’s Province: Evangelical Christianity, Political Thought, and Conservatism in Alberta, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:

Nichol, Chad and Clark Banack, “Encouraging youth towards rural healthcare through Young Medical Minds,” Rural and Remote Health, 2026.

Banack, Clark, "Resource Revenue, Political Volatility, and Alberta’s Evolving Party System," Canadian Political Science Review, 2026.

Banack, Clark, “Accessing Local Capital for Rural Community Development: The Case of Opportunity Development Co-operatives," The Journal of Community Development, 2025

Banack, Clark, and Glen Hvenegaard. "Dark Sky Tourism and Rural Development: Lessons From The Jasper Dark Sky Festival." Journal of Rural and Community Development, 20 (1), 2025.                                     

Hvenegaard, Glen and Clark Banack.  "Visitor outcomes from dark sky tourism: a case study of the Jasper Dark Sky Festival." Journal of Ecotourism, 24(1), 75–84. 2024.

Banack, Clark, “Ethnography and Political Opinion: Identity, Alienation, and Anti-Establishmentarianism in Rural Alberta,” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 54 (1), 1-22, 2021.

Banack, Clark. “The Covid-19 Pandemic and Social Cohesion in Rural Canadian Communities: Letter-to-the-Editor Forums as a Window into Community Discord,” Journal of Rural and Community Development, 16(4), 1-26, 2021.

Banack, Clark. “Rural Identity in an Urban Canada: Minority Rights for Agrarian Communities?” American Review of Canadian Studies, 51 (4), 2021.

Banack, Clark. “Understanding the Influence of Faith-based Organizations on Education Policy in Alberta,” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 48:4 (December 2015), 933-959.

Banack, Clark, “Evangelical Christianity and Political Thought in Alberta,” Journal of Canadian Studies, 48:2 (Spring 2014), 70-99.

Peer- Reviewed Book Chapters:

Banack, Clark, "Western Conservatism and the Challenges of “Wexit” and Resentment-based Populism,” in C. Smith and T. McIntosh ed., The New Politics of Western Canada: Contested Histories, Uncertain Futures, University of British Columbia Press, 2025.

Banack, Clark, "The Rural-Urban Divide in Canadian Politics," in R. Koop and T. Small ed., Elections in Canada: People, Players and Processes, University of Toronto Press, 2025.

Banack, Clark, “Understanding Rural Attitudes Toward Cultural and Religious Minorities via Political Ethnography: The Case of Rural Alberta,” in C. Banack and D. Pohler ed. Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada, (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2023).

Banack, Clark and Dionne Pohler, “Introduction: Thinking about Inclusivity in Rural Canada,” in C. Banack and D. Pohler ed. Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada, (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2023).

Banack, Clark and Dionne Pohler, “Conclusion: Toward Inclusive Rural Communities,” in C. Banack and D. Pohler ed. Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada, (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2023).

Banack, Clark, “The Premiership of Alison Redford,” in Sylvia Bashevkin ed., Doing Politics Differently? Women Premiers in Canada's Provinces and Territories, (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2019), 225-249.

Banack, Clark. “‘Government for the People, Not by the People.’ Populism and Parliamentary Governance under Stephen Harper,” In T. Healy and S. Trew ed., The Harper Record 2008-2015, (Ottawa: Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives, 2015).

Banack, Clark, “Conservative Christianity, Anti-Statism and Alberta’s Public Sphere: The Curious Case of Bill 44,” in S. Lefebvre and L. Beaman ed., Religion in the Public Sphere: Canadian Case Studies, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), 257-274.

Banack, Clark, “American Protestantism and the Roots of ‘Populist Conservatism’ in Alberta,” in J. Farney and D. Rayside ed., Conservatism in Canada, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013).

AUPOL 221 - Canadian National Government and Politics

Structure and function of the Government of Canada, especially the Crown, public service, House of Commons, Senate, and judiciary, in relation to political culture, regionalism, multiculturalism, gender and interest groups.

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