The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta contends that a century of political separation for one of Canada's most distinct provinces may be coming to an end. Alberta is a powerhouse, favoured with spectacular economic and population growth throughout the modern era. It is also widely misunderstood. This history of Alberta politics reaches back to the fraught birth of the province, before examining a political evolution over the past two decades. Spurred by populism and alienation, Albertans united behind a series of dominant centre-right parties for much of the twentieth century, while excluding themselves from Liberal-dominated federal politics. In 2006, this dynamic began to shift as the Progressive Conservatives faltered, fractured, and then re-formed into the United Conservative Party in 2017. Over the same period, the left coalesced around the provincial New Democratic Party, took power in 2015, then lost but remained united in opposition. The historic pattern of a dynastic conservative bloc surrounded by minor parties was interrupted, fuelled by ongoing social and economic change.

The authors convincingly argue that the recent change in provincial party politics may signal the imminent arrival of real competition in both provincial and federal politics, ending Alberta's solitude and shaping the future of Canada.