Institutional Change as Urban Theory: The Fall of At-Large Politics in Calgary, Alberta.

This article examines the institutional reform of Calgary, Alberta's municipal electoral system during the early post-war period, focusing on the city's transition from a long-standing proportional representation (PR), at-large, partisan system to a single-member majoritarian ward-based system by 1977. Using quantitative electoral data and qualitative archival and newspaper sources, it traces how shifts in electoral competition—particularly the decline of Labour candidates and rise of Independents—alongside population growth and changing local political theories about the purpose of municipal representation, drove reform debates and outcomes. The article highlights how moments of institutional change reveal the implicit theories held by local political elites about urban politics, showing that Calgary's reform process was shaped by both long-term trends and unexpected events, and that evolving beliefs about municipal politics influenced the adoption of geographic ward representation over city-wide proportionality. This case study underscores the importance of local institutional configurations and political actors' own understandings in shaping urban democratic reforms in Canadian cities.