Alex Marland’s ‘Brand Command’ wins $50,000 Donner Prize

TORONTO – St. John’s political scientist Alex Marland has won this year’s $50,000 Donner Prize for his book on the power of branding and marketing in Canadian politics.

“Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control” (UBC Press) took the prize at a Toronto gala on Monday.

Jury members called it an “authoritative, original and accessible treatise on the most significant development in modern democratic politics.”

Marland beat out four other books for the prize, which goes to the best public policy book written by a Canadian.

The other contenders included Sandra Martin for “A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices,” and Juliet Johnson for “Priests of Prosperity: How Central Bankers Transformed the Postcommunist World.”

The short list was rounded out by “A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age” by Daniel J. Levitin, and “L’integration des services en sante: Une approche populationnelle” by Yves Couturier, Lucie Bonin, and Louise Belzile.

The other finalists receive $7,500 each.