Kate Puddister

Kate Puddister is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph, and she contributes to the Political Science, Criminal Justice and Public Policy (CCJP), and Justice and Legal Studies (JLS) programs.

Dr. Puddister’s research and teaching focus on law and politics, criminal justice policy, police oversight and accountability, sentencing policy, and Canadian politics. She is the author of Seeking the Court’s Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power (UBC Press, 2019) and the co-editor of Constitutional Crossroads: Contemplations on Charter Rights, Reconciliation and Constitutional Change (UBC Press, 2022) and Disciplinary Divides in the Study of Law and Politics (U of T Press, 2026). Kate’s work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Revue Général de Droit, Policing & Society, among others.

Kate's current research agenda focuses on sentencing policy, and police oversight and accountability in Canada. Together with Dr. Danielle McNabb (Brock University), she is currently undertaking two multi-year SSHRC-funded studies that examine police-perpetrated sexual and gender-based violence.

Before joining the Department of Political Science, Kate completed a Ph.D. in Political Science from McGill University.

Books

• Macfarlane, Emmett and Kate Puddister (editors) 2026. Disciplinary Divides in the Study of Law and Politics. University of Toronto Press.
• Puddister, Kate and Emmett Macfarlane (editors) 2022. Constitutional Crossroads: Contemplations on Charter Rights, Reconciliation, and Constitutional Change. UBC Press.
• Puddister, Kate. 2019. Seeking the Court's Advice: The Politics of the Canadian Reference Power. UBC Press.

Recent Journal Articles

• McNabb, Danielle and Kate Puddister, “Breaching the Public Trust and Sentencing Canadian Police Officers: Addressing Rotten Apples, but not Rotten Barrels or Orchards.” Police Quarterly. Forthcoming.
• Do, Minh and Kate Puddister. 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.
• Puddister, Kate and Danielle McNabb. 2024. "Police Oversight in Practice: Special Investigations Unit and Civilian Police Oversight in Ontario, Canada." Policing & Society 34(8): 831-845.
• McNabb, Danielle and Kate Puddister. 2024. "To Serve and Protect? An Empirical Study of Police-Involved Sexual Assault." Women & Criminal Justice 34(2): 149-170
• Koning, Edward and Kate Puddister. 2024. "Common Sense Justice? Comparing Populist and Mainstream Right Positions on Law and Order in 24 Countries." Party Politics 30(2): 223-235
• Puddister, Kate. 2023. "Civilian Police Oversight and Accountability for Serious Incidents in Canada: Who Polices the Police?" Canadian Public Administration 66(3): 390-408
• Puddister, Kate. 2021. "What We've Got Here is Failure to Cooperate: Provincial Governments and the Canadian Reference Power." Revue Générale de Droit 51: 91-128
• Puddister, Kate and Danielle McNabb. 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
• Puddister, Kate. 2021. "How the Canadian Sentencing System Impacts Policy Reform - An Examination of the Harper Era," Law & Policy 43(2): 149-169
• Small, Tamara A. and Kate Puddister, 2020. "Play-by-Play Justice: Tweeting Criminal Trials in the Digital Age," Criminal Journal of Law and Society 35(1): 1-22
• Puddister, Kate. 2019. "The Canadian Reference Power: Delegation to the Courts and the Navigation of Federalism." Publius: The Journal of Federalism 49(4):561-586