bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Le difficile contrôle des activités et comportements de la police: le cas de la Sûreté du Québec
Authors: Bourgault Jacques , Gow James Iain
Published: April 2008

Police, as agents of the state, affect its legitimacy by their acts and the way they carry them out. They enjoy considerable powers and autonomy, in comparison with most public employees. Oddly, public administration studies almost ignore them. During the 1990s, the Sûreté du Québec experienced a number of problems of control and responsibility, not because of corruption but because of excess zeal, irresponsibility and sometimes incompetence. Several inquiries and studies, culminating with the massive Poitras Commission report of 1998, revealed a variety of problems, but many points in common. These studies show that while the SQ has known familiar problems rooted in police culture and the power of the police union, a whole range of measures could be pursued by the Department of Public Security and by the SQ to make it more open, more effective and more responsible. Several reforms now taking place could change the orgnizational culture of the Sûreté.
Neoliberalism and Public Service Reform: Canada in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Clark David
Published: April 2008

This article compares public service reform in Canada, France and the United Kingdom from the perspective of the extent and mode of incorporation of neoliberal policy ideas into reform agendas and programmes. It does so with a view to advancing discussion of the role of ideas as an explanatory category in ''historical institutionalist'' accounts of policy realignment. Resilience or permeability to change is linked to the pattern of interaction between ideas and institutions embedded in national and provincial public service regimes, and particularly to constitutive ideals of citizenship and public authority. The article highlights the respective roles of political, administrative and judicial elites in filtering the reception of new reform ideas in the three countries in an era of neoliberal globalization.
Policy Attitudes of Party Members in Canada: Evidence of Ideological Politics
Authors: Cross William , Young Lisa
Published: April 2008

This article considers the degree to which characteristics of the ideological model of political parties are evident in the Canadian party system. Four questions are considered: are members attracted to parties on the basis of their policy positions; is there a structure to party members' issue attitudes; is there significant attitudinal space between the parties; and is there cohesion within the parties on the identified attitudinal measures? Data collected through a national mail survey of members of the five federal parties are used to answer these questions. The article finds there is substantial evidence of the ideological model in the Canadian party system and concludes by considering the effect this may have on the brokerage traditions of Canadian parties.
Charles Taylor's Deeply Diverse Response to Canadian Fragmentation: A Project Often Commented On but Seldom Explored
Authors: Redhead Mark
Published: April 2008

This article attempts to clarify the controversies Charles Taylor's thoughts on group rights and identity politics have generated by exploring the constitutional and normative dimensions of Taylor's approach to the problem of political fragmentation, what he calls "deep diversity." In doing so, it makes a qualified defence of Taylor against his critics while also sketching an alternative route to deep diversity. The latter responds to the critics' concerns about the actual forms of accommodation or recognition that Taylor's thought sanctifies while preserving the normative core of his model.
Critical Theory and the Seducement of the "Art of the Possible"
Authors: Payrow Shabani Omid A.
Published: April 2008

In order to remedy the difficulties arising from his lifeworld/system distinction, such as the inability of his theory to account for the possibility of legitimate political power, Jürgen Habermas' attention turned toward greater abstraction through an appeal to legal theory as the basis of political consensus in the face of problems of diversity, complexity and pluralism in the modern world. This turn is made possible by an appropriation of some concepts of liberal theory, specifically John Rawls's ideas of "overlapping consensus" and "reflective equilibrium." The author argues that Habermas' insufficiently critical appropriation of these concepts leads to an inadequate account of political power that takes the existing political order as already legitimate, thereby compromising the critical thrust of his own theory.
Cultural Rights and Internal Minorities: Of Pueblos and Protestants
Authors: Robinson Andrew M.
Published: April 2008

This article considers the question: should rights extended to cultural communities to help them preserve themselves include the right to discipline dissident members who violate cultural norms? The case of the Pueblo Protestants is employed to consider two important defences of cultural rights (revisionist liberal and cultural communitarian) that offer conflicting answers. Both are found unsatisfactory because of their implicit reliance on "cultural monism" (that is, the assumption that individuals identify with only one cultural community). An approach to defining cultural rights is then outlined that avoids this assumption and its application is illustrated with respect to the Pueblo case.
Asymétrie de puissance et négociations économiques internationales: la zone de libre-échange des Amériques et les puissances moyennes
Authors: Mace Gordon , Paquet Jacques , Bélanger Louis , Loiseau Hugo
Published: April 2008

The role played by the middle powers in international economic negotiations is neglected by the literature on the subject. However, in an international trade negotiation characterized by a configuration of global asymmetry but with a relative symmetry between the dominant actors, the role played by the middle powers such as Canada constitutes a central factor in the success of the negotiation. Taking the example of the prenegotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, this article shows how the middle powers facilitated the success of this crucial phase for the continuation of the negotiations. Le rôle joué par les puissances moyennes dans les négociations économiques internationales n'a pas beaucoup retenu l'attention des chercheurs. Pourtant, dans une négociation commerciale internationale caractérisée par une configuration d'asymétrie globale de pouvoir mais de symétrie relative entre les acteurs dominants, le rôle joué par les puissances moyennes comme le Canada constitue un facteur central dans la réussite de la négociation. Prenant l'exemple des pré-négociations de la Zone de libre-échange des Amériques, cet article démontre comment les puissances moyennes ont facilité la réussite de cette phase cruciale de la poursuite des négociations.
Policing, Democratization and Political Leadership in Postcommunist Ukraine
Authors: Harasymiw Bohdan
Published: April 2008

Policing, a subject little studied by North American political scientists, has considerable relevance to newly democratizing countries, particularly those emerging from communist rule. Taking the case of Ukraine, the article examines what measures have been adopted to transform that country's Soviet pattern of authoritarian policing into something resembling that of established European liberal democracies. The balance sheet shows few signs of positive change. Instead, thanks to President Leonid Kuchma's leadership, the politicization and corruption of the police is now more blatant than ever. A new form of police state, not seen in the nineteenth or twentieth centuries, threatens the rule of law and democracy along with it.
Conventional Coverage/Unconventional Politicians: Gender and Media Coverage of Canadian Leaders' Debates, 1993, 1997, 2000
Authors: Gidengil Elisabeth , Everitt Joanna
Published: April 2008

This article explores the implications for female politicians of the gendered nature of news coverage. An analysis of the language used in television news coverage of the English-language leaders' debates in the Canadian federal elections of 1993, 1997 and 2000 confirms that the debates are framed in stereotypically masculine ways as battles, sporting events or back street brawls. When the news coverage is compared with the leaders' actual behaviour in the debates, it is clear that the coverage focuses disproportionately on combative displays of behaviour by female party leaders, but tends to ignore the women when they adopt a more low-key style, especially when the novelty of a female leader has worn off.
Ideas and Discourse: Reform and Resistance in the Canadian and German Health Systems
Authors: Bhatia Vandna D. , Coleman William
Published: April 2008

This article examines the conditions under which policy discourses can serve as contributing factors to policy change, even in the absence of changes in institutions and interests. It begins with a discussion of the role of ideas in policy analysis and how they can play a "constitutive role" as frames for policy. Drawing on a distinction between "augmentative" discourses that serve to reinforce an existing policy framework and "transformative discourses" that seek to persuade various publics of the need for significant policy change, four types of policy discourse are defined and a methodology is suggested for identifying these types. Two of these types, "challenging" and "truth-seeking," are hypothesized to be more conducive to the occurrence of significant policy change. Drawing then on case studies of policy change in Canada and Germany respectively, the article shows that a "challenging" discourse emerges in both countries, but leads to significant policy change only in Germany. Based on the comparison of the two cases, it is argued that three factors are relevant to whether a challenging discourse is successful or not: a broad consensus among core policy actors on the nature and gravity of the policy problem; the consistency of the discourse with broadly held normative values; and the persuasiveness of the "social facts" brought to bear in favour of proposed new solutions.
Transaction Costs and Host-Group Rivalry in Foreign Economic Policy: Evidence from Five North American Fisheries
Authors: Potter Brian
Published: April 2008

This article shows that the timing and nature of policies hostile to foreign direct investment stem both from the transaction costs of negotiating with different host country agencies, and from changes to domestic and international coalitions. Divided agency jurisdiction is modeled as a partial property right to the use of a resource. Host industries lacking political cohesion allow foreign firms economic opportunities and a stronger political voice. Qualitative and quantitative evidence from five fisheries in the United States and Canada confirm that the costs of negotiating with a fractured government and the opportunity to form transnational coalitions lead host countries to adopt policies that will facilitate forced divestment. These policies vary in respect to their timing and format.
Signaling and Tariff Policy: The Strategic Multistage Rent Reduction Game
Authors: Lusztig Michael , James Patrick , Kim HeeMin
Published: April 2008

This study uses a game-theoretic analysis to suggest that governments can minimize the political risks associated with significant liberalization of trade by employing a multistep process in the reduction of state-supplied rents. The model argues that when governments precede significant reductions in state-supplied rents with a smaller reduction, or with a reduction that can be portrayed credibly as externally imposed, they may be in a position to evaluate, and hence mitigate, costs associated with significant trade liberalization. Substantive implications are explored in the context of United States trade policy and the still-curious ability of the Franklin Roosevelt administration to engage in strategic rent reductions without suffering meaningful political backlash.
Participation des citoyens et démocratie de proximité en France: la permanence d'un mythe
Authors: Thomas Olivier
Published: April 2008

This article questions the relevance of the use of participatory democracy, in order to build a new theoretical frame for the understanding of the government of French cities. The nature of local actors, the way they are organized and deal with common issues, will be assumed to challenge the spreading of participatory democracy. The analysis will consider the problem of the adoption of the word “governance” from corporate and development patterns to urban ones, the structural shackles due to French municipal organization, and some special weaknesses in the way associations try to get involved in urban government.
Complexes and Cognitive Complexity: Canadian Contributions to Political Psychology
Authors: Nesbitt-Larking Paul
Published: April 2008

While it remains a diffuse field of enquiry, political psychology has established itself as an important approach to the analysis of political life. In the United States, political psychology is offered as an optional programme in a number of leading graduate schools and is a recognized subfield of the American Political Science Association. Despite the existence of a number of active political psychologists in Canada, there has been relatively little curiosity about the status of the field. This article offers an account of research in the field. Central to this exploration is an evaluation of the ideological, cultural and substantive research in political psychology in Canada.
Who Governs? Who Should Govern?: Political Authority and Legitimacy in Canada in the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Skogstad Grace
Published: April 2008

This article examines the contemporary basis of legitimate governance in Canada by identifying and documenting four different bases of political authority: state-centred, market-based, expert and popular authority. The co-existence of these competing bases of authority, traced to cultural shifts and developments associated with globalization, creates conflicting domestic and international norms of procedural and substantive legitimacy. The article argues that effective and legitimate governing in Canada requires greater incorporation of elements of popular authority, and reform, not abandonment, of state-centred authority.
Partisanship, Institutions and Public Policy: The Case of Labour Market Policy in Ontario, 1990–2000
Authors: Haddow Rodney , Klassen Thomas R.
Published: April 2008

For historical institutionalist scholarship,
partisanship's impact on public policy is mediated by institutions;
however there is disagreement about whether globalization has altered
this nexus. In view of the importance of labour market policy for the
equity and efficiency objectives of left– and right–wing
parties, it is particularly significant as a domain for testing
partisanship's continuing relevance. This article examines the link
between partisanship and policy outcomes, using the case of labour
market policy in Ontario during the 1990s as its point of reference. It
concludes that, in relation to three selected aspects of this field,
institutions affected left– and right–wing partisan agendas
quite differently, but that globalization has not transformed this
relationship in recent years. Because of inter–sectoral
institutional variations, this conclusion cannot be extended to other
policy domains without further research.
Who's in the Game? The Framing of Election 2000 by The Globe and Mail and The National Post
Authors: Trimble Linda , Sampert Shannon
Published: April 2008

This paper reports the results of a content analysis
of election–related headlines in Canada's two
English–language national newspapers, The Globe and Mail and The
National Post, over the course of the 36–day 2000 federal election
campaign. We found that the two national newspapers' headlines
revealed differences in issue emphasis, leader portrayals and party
assessment. Yet both newspapers embraced a game frame for election
coverage–by focusing on the horse–race, leader personalities
and campaign strategies–to the neglect of campaign issues and
ideological distinctions between parties. These findings suggest that
media game framing can result in troublesome consequences for
constructive citizen engagement in election activities.
Expanding the ‘Dialogue’ Debate: Federal Government Responses to Lower Court Charter Decisions
Authors: Hennigar Matthew A.
Published: April 2008

The inter–institutional dynamics between
courts and elected governments under the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms have recently, and widely, been characterized as a "dialogue"
over constitutional meaning. This article seeks to expand the systematic
analysis of "dialogue" to lower courts of appeal, using Canadian federal
government responses as a case study. In the process, the article
clarifies the hotly debated operational definition of this metaphor, and
develops two methodological innovations to provide a comprehensive
measure of dialogue. The article's findings suggest that there is
more dialogue with lower courts than with the Supreme Court of Canada.
However, the evidence indicates that dialogue in the form of government
appeals to higher courts–which explicitly signal the
government's disagreement with the lower court–is as
prevalent as legislative sequels, and the dominant form following
judicial amendment.
Financial Sector Reform in Canada: Interests and the Policy Process
Authors: Harris Stephen L.
Published: April 2008

This project examines the policy process surrounding
Canada's latest reforms of its financial–services industry
legislation. The banks lobbied for a broadening of their eligible
activities to mirror those of the multi–function banks in Europe
and the United States and for mergers to permit them to compete with
those banks on an equal footing. The government denied the
institutions' requests and the pressure for action was deflected to
a task force. My analysis of the policy change process is informed by
the public choice paradigm and portrays the activities in the policy
“black box.”
Le règle électorale comme moyen de protection contre
les nouveaux acteurs politiques: l'exemple français
Authors: Sainteny Guillaume
Published: April 2008

En matière de règle électorale,
la recherche, d'approche « institutionaliste », s'est
longtemps attardée sur les effets des différentes
règles électorales sur les systèmes de partis,
négligeant peut-être un peu les modes de confection et de
modification de ces règles ainsi que leur usage politique.
“Reading More Newspapers and Voting Less?” A Rejoinder
to Pattie and Johnston
Authors: Milner Henry
Published: April 2008

In their article, C. J. Pattie and R. J. Johnston
(2003) do me the honour of putting a key aspect of my approach to the
relationship between civic literacy and political participation to the
test. Do recent British data, they ask, confirm my expectation that
newspaper reading enhances civic literacy, and thus voter turnout?
Though I am gratified that they chose to address this issue, and in such
a thorough manner, and though there is much in the article which is
valuable, I must ultimately take issue with their methodology and, thus,
the central conclusion they draw.
Global Economy, Local Politics: Indigenous Struggles, Civil Society
and Democracy
Authors: Otero Gerardo
Published: April 2008

In this article I critically assess the globalist position which claims
that the forces of globalization have fundamentally debilitated
nation–states, and that the fate of progressive politics and social
movements now depends on the degree and extent of international
solidarity and the shaping of a transnational civil society (for
example, Beck, 2000; Bronner, 1999; Brysk, 2000; Strange, 1996). Against
this globalist, internationalist or cosmopolitan position, I argue
that the nation–state continues to be a critical sphere for the
imposition of ruling capitalist interests. Likewise, any substantial
modification in the economic, political and cultural conditions of
subordinate groups, communities and classes will have to be fought and
won at this level. While international solidarity will always be
welcome, the internationalization of politics, by itself, will not have
a substantial impact on the domestic balance of forces. In fact, the
main locus of politics should remain local if significant changes in the
life chances of subordinate groups, communities and classes are the
goal. These subordinate groups will be able to affect domestic state
interventions in their favour only to the extent that they constitute
themselves politically at the local level. In order to do so, their main
challenge may be posited as follows: How can they extract concessions
from the state without at the same time being co–opted? Facing this
challenge successfully continues to require the construction of
democratic organizations for struggle, an accountable leadership and
grassroots participation in decision–making.
Increasing Women's Representation in France and India
Authors: Allwood Gill , Wadia Khursheed
Published: April 2008

The immediate post–Second World War period saw women gain equal
political rights in a number of countries, including France and India.
Political participation researchers began to consider women's
involvement in politics. However, because they focused on state
institutions and political parties as the most important sites of
political participation, and because the presence of women within these
sites was insignificant, the conclusions drawn were either that women
were uninterested in and/or uninformed about politics or that their
interest and knowledge derived from the male head of household.
Moreover, when women's political participation was considered, the
preferred location of study was the Western liberal democratic
nation–state (Dogan, 1955; Duverger, 1955).
The Challenge of Municipal Voting: Vancouver 2002
Authors: Cutler Fred , Matthews J. Scott
Published: April 2008

Abstract.As compared with federal and provincial elections, municipal elections in Canada present voters with challenges of informational quantity and quality. These unique challenges have implications for the psychological structure of citizens' voting calculus. Using a survey of voters conducted after the city of Vancouver civic election of 2002, we estimate a model of vote choice for mayor. We show that voters respond to the different context in predictable ways: their choices are determined largely by ideological orientations and provincial partisanship, with local economic evaluations and local issues playing only a very small role.

Résumé.Si on les compare aux élections fédérales et provinciales, les élections municipales au Canada posent, pour les électeurs, des problèmes d'accès à une information de qualité en quantité suffisante. Ces défis particuliers ont un impact sur la structure psychologique de leurs stratégies de vote. Nous estimerons ici un modèle de choix d'un candidat au poste de maire à l'aide des données d'un sondage effectué après les élections municipales de Vancouver de 2002. Nous démontrerons que les électeurs répondent à ce contexte différent de manière prévisible : leurs choix sont déterminés principalement par leur orientation idéologique et leur soutien partisan au niveau provincial, alors que l'évaluation de l'état de l'économie locale et les questions de politique locale ne jouent qu'un rôle limité.
Changes in Canadian Journalists' Views about the Social and
Political Roles of the News Media: A Panel Study, 1996–2003
Authors: Pritchard David , Brewer Paul R. , Sauvageau Florian
Published: April 2008

Abstract. This article presents the findings of a panel study
of Canadian journalists, focusing on changes in their views about the
social and political roles of the news media between 1996 and 2003. The
results reveal substantial changes in journalists' views over the
seven-year period. In particular, the analysis documents an erosion of the
importance journalists attach to core roles of Canadian journalism, such
as accurately reporting the views of public figures, providing analyses of
complex problems, and giving ordinary people a chance to express their
views. The change was found almost exclusively among English-language
journalists rather than French-language journalists, suggesting the
possibility of an emerging cultural divide in opinions about such
roles.

Résumé. Cet article présente les
résultats de deux enquêtes menées auprès
d'un même groupe de journalistes canadiens, l'une en 1996,
l'autre en 2003, et montre les changements importants intervenus en
quelques années dans les valeurs professionnelles des journalistes.
L'enquête de 2003 fait voir l'érosion de certaines
fonctions centrales du journalisme, comme le reportage fidèle des
propos des personnalités recontrées, l'analyse des
enjeux difficiles, et le souci de donner la parole aux gens ordinaires.
Ces changements se manifestent presque exclusivement chez les journalistes
anglophones, ce qui permet de croire à l'émergence
d'un écart entre journalistes anglophones et francophones dans
la perception de leur rôle.
The Impact of Representation Per Capita on the Distribution of Federal Spending and Income Taxes
Authors: Evans Tom A.
Published: April 2008

Abstract.A vote-maximizing incumbent government is expected to adjust discretionary spending and taxation in ways that increase its probability for re-election. Unequal voters per electoral district in Canada distort this calculation in favour of small electoral districts. Using two measures of federal expenditures, and one of income taxes, between the years 1961–2000, empirical estimates indicate that greater representation per capita (lower relative electoral district populations) results in higher federal spending, and lower income taxes, per capita, even after controlling for income and unemployment.

Résumé.Un gouvernement en place tentant de maximiser les votes en sa faveur est censé ajuster les dépenses discrétionnaires et les impôts de manière à augmenter la probabilité de sa réélection. L'inégalité du nombre d'électeurs des districts électoraux au Canada crée une distorsion en faveur des districts de petite taille. En utilisant deux mesures des dépenses fédérales et une mesure des impôts sur le revenu entre 1961 et 2000, nos résultats empiriques montrent qu'une plus forte représentation par habitant (plus petits districts électoraux) entraîne des dépenses fédérales plus importantes et des impôts sur le revenu moins élevés par personne, même en contrôlant pour le revenu et le taux de chômage.
Political Parties
Authors: Sayers Anthony
Published: April 2008

Political Parties, William Cross, The Canadian Democratic
Audit series; Vancouver, UBC Press, 2004, pp. 218.

Political Parties is part of the Canadian Democratic
Audit series. The expressed aim of the series is to “examine
the way Canadian democracy functions” using three benchmarks,
“public participation, inclusiveness and responsiveness,” with
the principle output being not so much a report card but the desire to
“encourage ongoing discussion of how best to fashion Canada's
democratic institutions and practices well into the new century”
(http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts-letters/canadian_studies/cda/pdf/demaudit_overview_15aug.pdf).
Cross's short, readable volume achieves these objectives.
Souverainistes que faire?
Authors: Bourque Mélanie
Published: April 2008

Souverainistes que faire?, Michel Venne., Montréal : VLB
éditeur, 2002, 210 p.

Le livre de Michel Venne Souverainistes que faire? prend la
double forme d'un manifeste pour la souveraineté du
Québec et d'un essai politique sur la nécessité
de transformer le rôle de l'État. L'auteur
s'adresse principalement à un public déjà
souverainiste qu'il cherche à remobiliser dans cette
conjoncture relativement défavorable qui a été
marquée par le recul du Bloc québécois aux
élections fédérales de 2000 et la défaite
appréhendée du Parti québécois en 2003. Michel
Venne entend ainsi contribuer au renouvellement du discours sur la
souveraineté qui est tant souhaité dans le mouvement
nationaliste québécois depuis quelques années.
Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties in Canada
Authors: Farney James
Published: April 2008

Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties in Canada, Chris
MacKenzie, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2005, pp.
292.

MacKenzie's title is misleading, for the major focus of the book
is not pro-family parties across Canada. Rather, he uses an intensive
study of a single provincial pro-family party—the Family Coalition
Party of British Columbia (FCP)—as a starting point for an ambitious
and successful attempt to chart the conceptual morass that lies between
the literatures on social movements and political parties. He makes a
strong argument that small, ideologically driven parties on either end of
the ideological spectrum face two distinct sets of challenges: those of
political parties and those of social movements. Understanding how this
double jeopardy affects the success of what he terms party/movements
is important. In this respect, the book is an important contribution to
the literature on what political scientists more usually call minor
parties. The second focus of the book is new right ideology in the
English-speaking world, with the FCP standing in as an example of this
ideology. Here, the book is shakier, as it is not clear that the FCP is
representative of this ideology or that MacKenzie is entirely objective in
approaching this aspect of his topic.
Second Growth: Community Economic Development in Rural British
Columbia
Authors: Molloy Andrew
Published: April 2008

Second Growth: Community Economic Development in Rural British
Columbia, Sean Markey, John Pierce, Mark Roseland and Kelly Vodden,
Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2005, pp. 352.

This theoretically rich, community economic development (CED) work,
written by four members of the Centre for Sustainable Community
Development (formerly the Community Economic Development Centre) at Simon
Fraser University, is the product of a three-year
participatory-action-based research project involving four
“forest-based” British Columbia communities. Two Aboriginal
communities and two municipalities were case studied as part of an
action-learning exercise in order to gain “insight into the apparent
conflict between the economic imperative and fluidity of capital versus
the lived worlds of rural and small time places” (3). Through their
empirical studies of the four communities, the authors argue that CED,
fostered at the local level, can allow for the kind of capacity building
that is needed to create diversified, sustainable economic futures for
resource-based rural and small-town communities. They are careful,
however, to distinguish between the use of CED as a “localized and
palliative strategy” for marginalized communities caught in the
throes of political and economic dependency, and the possibilities for a
more robust (theoretically balanced) version of CED, which can become part
and parcel of rural and small-town locally-based planning and development.
While recognizing the appropriateness of CED in either situation, they
argue that a host of negative economic and political factors, which are
intensifying under the direction of neo-liberal ideological thinking, have
resulted in a pressing need for the more robust form of community
development and corresponding revitalization strategies.
Federalism
Authors: Hueglin Thomas O.
Published: April 2008

Federalism, Jennifer Smith, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004, pp. xi,
192.

This slender volume is part of the Canadian Democratic Audit series
examining how well Canadian democracy is performing at the beginning of
the twenty-first century. The purpose is to investigate all major aspects
of the Canadian political system according two three benchmarks: public
participation, inclusiveness and responsiveness. The series includes ten
volumes in all. This is the one on federalism.
State of Struggle: Feminism and Politics in Alberta
Authors: Findlay Tammy
Published: April 2008

State of Struggle: Feminism and Politics in Alberta, Lois Harder,
Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2003, pp. xi, 227.

State of Struggle is a fascinating study of feminist
“claimsmaking” in Alberta. Lois Harder traces a rich history
of women's organizing in Alberta, combined with a sharp analysis of
the contemporary political context. Using an impressive range of
sources—academic, government, women's organizations, and news
media—with archival and interview research, Harder addresses many
gaps in Canadian political science.
Elections
Authors: Tossutti Livianna
Published: April 2008

Elections, John C. Courtney, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004, pp.
ix, 201.

The expansion of the number of democratic regimes around the world and
the decline of trust in government in established democracies have renewed
interest in election laws and how these rules define the national
community, allow citizens to express their preferences, and influence the
composition of legislatures. In Canada, the study of electoral laws has
frequently dealt with how electoral formulae translate votes into
legislative representation.
Micropolitics and Canadian Business: Paper, Steel and the
Airlines
Authors: Stritch Andrew
Published: April 2008

Micropolitics and Canadian Business: Paper, Steel and the Airlines,
Peter Clancy, Peterborough: Broadview, 2004, pp. 336.

Given the scarcity of work on business-government relations in Canada
any new academic monograph in this field is certainly welcome. Yet, even
if the field were crowded, Peter Clancy's wide-ranging and
multi-layered study would be a useful addition to the literature. As the
subtitle indicates, the book is essentially a study of three important
Canadian industries chosen from different economic sectors. For each of
these it examines the character of industry politics across a variety of
dimensions with a substantial emphasis on internal structure and
historical development. It deals both with business-government interaction
in the process of policymaking and with the nature of industrial policy
outputs in a way that is sensitive to the complex and heterogeneous forces
operating within each industry.
Steps Toward Making Every Vote Count: Electoral System Reform in
Canada and its Provinces
Authors: Heard Andrew
Published: April 2008

Steps Toward Making Every Vote Count: Electoral System Reform in
Canada and its Provinces, Henry Milner, ed., Peterborough: Broadview,
2004, pp. 319.

After some decades of a principally academic debate in Canada,
electoral reform has become a topic of current political discussion and
even, in some cases, concrete action. Henry Milner's Steps Toward
Making Every Vote Count is a very useful follow-up to the widely read
Making Every Vote Count (Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1999).
While the focus remains on trying to make the case that electoral reform
is indeed necessary in Canada, the emphasis lies more on assessing the
changes that are already under way. With five provinces directly engaged
in electoral reform, this book provides a very welcome collection of
essays to deepen our understanding of the subject.
The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party
Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States
Authors: Desai Radhika
Published: April 2008

The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party
Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States,
Pradeep K. Chhibber and Ken Kollman, Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2004, pp. xvi, 276.

Mining electoral data to arrive at theories about the relationship
between political party performance and party system determination and
electoral and governmental institutions forms the main stream of political
science. And one of its most enduring puzzles is the explanation of the
patterns and diversities of party systems. With the famous
“Duverger's Law” about single-member plurality systems
and two-party political systems forming its point of departure, political
scientists have attempted to substantiate their discipline's status
as a “science” by producing theories about relationships
between measurable political variables.
The Politics of Direct Democracy: Referendums in Global
Perspective.
Authors: Preyra Leonard
Published: April 2008

The Politics of Direct Democracy: Referendums in Global Perspective.,
Lawrence LeDuc., Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview. 2003, pp. 214.

The 1980s marked a watershed in the evolution of liberal democracy. On
the global front the principles of liberal democracy were successfully
used as battering rams to demolish the walls erected by its powerful Cold
War rival—socialism. Our side declared victory and the end of
ideological conflict. And yet in its struggle with socialism liberal
democracy planted the seeds for its own transformation—it was hoist
with its own petard. A new consensus emerged. Our elections were also a
sham, parties provided little or no meaningful choice, and legislators
were unrepresentative, unresponsive and unaccountable. On major
constitutional and moral issues there was gridlock. From the left came
calls for “people power” and more inclusive and empowering
institutions. From the right came calls for privatizing the State and
reducing the autonomy of elected officials and the “special
interests” who controlled it. Enter the referendum as a way of
addressing this “democratic deficit.” Why not let the people
decide?
Democratization Without Representation: The Politics of Small
Industry in Mexico
Authors: Hilgers Tina
Published: April 2008

Democratization Without Representation: The Politics of Small
Industry in Mexico, Shadlen, Kenneth C., University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004, pp. vii–xvi, 208.

In this book Kenneth Shadlen addresses the important question of what
democracy has really meant for civil society in Mexico. Mexico counts
among the stragglers over the finish line of third-wave transitions, but,
as elsewhere, hopes were high that democratization would magically result
in political, social and economic betterment for all. Shadlen's book
is among a growing number of studies drawing attention to the differences
between electoral democracy—based on electoral turnover
through relatively free and fair contests—and quality
democracy—a more ideal regime type with intensive participatory
and representative aspects. He challenges the perception that any kind of
democracy always benefits all citizens more than other regimes, by
offering an in-depth analysis of small business's interest
aggregation and articulation difficulties, which have increased with the
transition.
Orient-Occident, la fracture imaginaire
Authors: Paquette Julie
Published: April 2008

Orient-Occident, la fracture imaginaire, George Corm, Paris :
La Découverte, Paris, 2005, 208 pages.

S'interrogeant sur l'origine de la fracture entre
l'Orient et l'Occident, George Corm en vient, dans cet ouvrage,
à porter un regard critique particulièrement incisif sur
l'image que l'Occident se fait de lui-même. Comme
l'annonce le titre, l'auteur établit rapidement le
constat d'une fracture imaginaire entre ces deux mondes, fracture
résultant d'une mise en scène identitaire à
l'Ouest. C'est donc afin de mieux comprendre non-seulement le
sens de cette fracture, mais aussi qui nous sommes, qu'il
s'emploiera, dans cet essai, à déconstruire certaines
idées préconçues et à briser les grands dogmes
qui ont conduit à ce malentendu conceptuel.
Islam and Politics and The Search for Arab Democracy:
Discourses and Counter-Discourses
Authors: Mottale Morris
Published: April 2008

Islam and Politics, Beverly Milton-Edwards, Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2004, pp. vii, 217.

The Search for Arab Democracy: Discourses and
Counter-Discourses, Larbi Sadiki, New York: Columbia University
Press, 2004, pp. vii, 409

These two books approach Middle Eastern Arab and Islamic politics from
a post-modern perspective informed by new European and American
scholarship on democracy and gender. Both authors tackle a range of issues
that should have been treated as discrete topics. Beverly Milton-Edwards
and Larbi Sadiki, the two authors, are trying to define Islam and politics
not only in terms of the world after 9/11, but also in terms of the
recurring and yet-to-be-solved issue of the role of Islam in the modern
world and its relationship to politics.
Comparative Biomedical Policy: Governing Assisted Reproductive
Technologies
Authors: O'Neill Michael A.
Published: April 2008

Comparative Biomedical Policy: Governing Assisted Reproductive
Technologies, Ivor Bleiklei, Malcolm L. Goggin and Christine Rothmayr,
eds., London: Routledge, 2004, pp. 284.

Few issues have the potential to combine elements of science fact and
science fiction as does the field of biomedical research and its offshoot,
assisted reproductive technologies (ART). As newspapers testify with
regularity, this area of science and medicine uniquely combines promises
for the improvement of human health but also exemplifies the dangers
associated with scientists playing god with the very the building blocks
of our species. Confronted with these stark opposites, public authorities
have entered the fray and have tried, with varied responses, to frame
these practices in such as way as to encourage and stimulate the positive
elements of this area of research and medicine, such as in vitro
fertilization, while cutting off or severely circumscribing the areas
which have been deemed immoral or unethical, such as human cloning. It is
where issues of morality or ethics enter the policy discourse that the
waters get murky and where, as a result, governments find the arbitration
between first-person experiences and societal norms the most
difficult.
Telepopulism: Media and Politics in Israel
Authors: Waller Harold M.
Published: April 2008

Telepopulism: Media and Politics in Israel, Yoram Peri,
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004, pp. 376.

This is an ambitious work that does not achieve all that it sets out
to do but is nevertheless stimulating and provocative. Peri tries to
combine a general summary of the literature on media and politics in a
rapidly changing technological environment with an application to the
Israeli political system and a detailed analysis of how the government of
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (1996–1999) fits into the picture.
It appears that Peri's views on his general subject have been greatly
affected by his observations during the Netanyahu years. Indeed he sees
that prime minister as the quintessential practitioner of media-centred
politics on the Israeli scene.
Pursuing Equal Opportunities: The Theory and Practice of Egalitarian
Justice
Authors: Young Shaun P.
Published: April 2008

Pursuing Equal Opportunities: The Theory and Practice of Egalitarian
Justice, Lesley A. Jacobs, Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public
Policy; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. xiv, 280.

The concept of equality and the precise means by which it is most
effectively realized are matters that for centuries have engaged scholars
representing a variety of disciplines and animated some of the most
interesting and sophisticated works in the fields of political theory,
economics, sociology, and jurisprudence, to name only a few. Efforts to
identify the specific demands of equality and the conditions necessary for
its realization generate both theoretical and practical challenges. In
particular, before one can develop a theory of egalitarian justice, it is
necessary to determine what is meant by equality—what it provides
and for whom—and which legal and political institutions are best
suited to help secure its establishment and preservation.
Et si nous dansions ? Pour une politique du bien commun au
Canada
Authors: Caron Jean-François
Published: April 2008

Et si nous dansions ? Pour une politique du bien commun au
Canada, Charles Blattberg, Montréal : Les Presses de
l'Université de Montréal, 2004, 213 pages.

Notre pays est-il voué à l'éclatement ?
Est-il possible de songer à la re-fondation du Canada autour de
valeurs qui emporteraient l'adhésion de toutes les citoyennes
et tous les citoyens ? Voilà les questions auxquelles Charles
Blattberg tente de répondre dans son livre Et si nous dansions
? Contrairement à l'analyse d'autres auteurs, il
croit qu'il est possible de définir un bien commun, à
condition que celui-ci soit constitué de ce que Blattberg appelle
des “ règles expressives ”, c'est-à-dire
des principes qui sont l'expression de ce que nous sommes
individuellement et collectivement.
James Madison: The Theory and Practice of Republican
Government
Authors: Yirush Craig
Published: April 2008

James Madison: The Theory and Practice of Republican Government,
Samuel Kernell, ed., Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003, pp. ix,
381.

The result of a conference celebrating James Madison's
250th birthday in 2001, this collection of essays is full of
valuable insights on important aspects of his political science. At a time
when historians give much less consideration to the politics of the
Founding than they used to, these essays are a welcome reminder of the
importance of the questions still remaining.
Love and Politics: Re-interpreting Hegel
Authors: Goldstein Joshua D.
Published: April 2008

Love and Politics: Re-interpreting Hegel, Alice Ormiston, SUNY series
in Hegelian Studies; Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004, pp.
ix, 164.

John, Paul, George and Ringo remind us that “all you need is
love.” I suspect most would agree with The Beatles when, pausing in
our scholarly endeavours, we glance about at the gloomy train wreck of
many a personal relationship. When we return to our vocation's most
gripping questions—How are community and individual autonomy to be
harmonized? How is reason to be satisfied and yet ordinary emotional
experience affirmed? How can democratic institutions be strengthened
against technocratic thinking and control?—love is no doubt put
aside and the serious work of theorizing real solutions begins.
Ormiston's project is to rescue love as a solution to just such
questions.
Leo Strauss, Max Weber, And The Scientific Study Of Politics
Authors: Jensen Michael
Published: April 2008

Leo Strauss, Max Weber, And The Scientific Study Of Politics, Nasser
Behnegar, Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 2003, pp, xiii, 221.

Any serious student of Leo Strauss will be familiar with the fact that
Strauss was a serious critic of modern political science. Strauss
contended throughout his career that the modern social sciences are one of
the driving forces currently driving modern liberalism into a state of
crisis. In Leo Strauss, Max Weber and The Scientific Study of
Politics, Nasser Behnegar encapsulates Strauss' critique of the
modern social sciences in an accessible and easy to read text.
Power, Terror, Peace, and War and The Foreign Policy of
George W. Bush: Values, Strategy, Loyalty
Authors: Hale Geoffrey
Published: April 2008

Power, Terror, Peace, and War, Walter Russell Mead, New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, pp. viii, 226.

The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush: Values, Strategy,
Loyalty, Alexander Moens, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2004, pp. 227

The foreign policy of George W. Bush's administration has
prompted a downpour of books, reflecting its vigorous response to the
events of September 11, 2001, its highly controversial decision to invade
Iraq, and its persistent defiance of the received opinions of foreign
policy elites and international relations experts around the world.