bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vers un nouvel ordre migratoire mondial
Authors: Pellerin Hélène
Published: April 2008

Many multilateral efforts have unfolded since the 1990s with the objective of discussing the improvement of migration regulations. Can these efforts be conceived as the sign that the sovereignty of the nation-state is eroding? The fact that states remain in control of many dimensions of migration policies invites a cautionary answer. An alternative interpretation consists in comprehending these efforts as conditioning a new world migration order. The article presents these efforts in order to discuss their underlying economic and political priorities, as well as the power relations involved. Some of the most important consequences of this transformation are then discussed.
The Tory Fragment in Canada: Endangered Species?
Authors: Leuprecht Christian
Published: April 2008

Decades after Gad Horowitz's seminal article first appeared in 1966 in the Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, fragment theory's capacity to make sense of phenomena for which it might otherwise be difficult to account, still appears relevant. Support for the Reform party/Canadian Alliance is most robust in provinces marked by immigration from the western United States. By contrast, provinces where United Empire Loyalists settled have proven most resistant to incursions by Reform. Using fragment theory to formulate a possible hypothesis to explain this puzzle has two incidental benefits. It probes the failure of new federal parties to emerge from Maritime Canada, and it allows speculation about the simultaneous demise of the Conservative and New Democratic parties.
Rational Choice and Socio-Psychological Explanation for Opinion on Quebec Sovereignty
Authors: Mendelsohn Matthew
Published: April 2008

The article identifies two schools of thought on why Quebeckers choose to support or oppose sovereignty - the rational choice approach that has focused on individuals' assessments of the collective costs and benefits of sovereignty for the Quebec economy and the French language, and the socio-psychological approach that has focused on variables such as resentment, feelings of status denial, ethnic grievances and self-confidence. It has been difficult to resolve disputes between the two approaches due to weakness in available data and a lack of a comparative approach amongst scholars. Using a data set explicitly designed to compare the two schools, this article examines whether previous researchers' conclusions hold even when concepts are operationalized in different ways and when models are specified using different variables. The author examines five general dimensions: the state of the economy, the state of the French language, the state of federalism, respect and recognition, and the perceived quality of relations between English and French speakers. The major substantive conclusion is that the previous scholarship on the motivations for vote choice have significantly overestimated the importance of assessments of the French language, significantly underestimated the importance of assessments of whether Quebeckers are respected and recognized within Canada, and have also underestimated the importance of assessments of federalism and the quality of relations between linguistic groups. These conclusions hold for even the most ambivalent voters.
Issue Ownership by Canadian Political Parties 1953-2001
Authors: Bélanger Éric
Published: April 2008

Issue ownership refers to political parties' recognized capacity or reputation to deal competently with a number of issues and problems. Canadian perceptions of party competence in five issue areas are examined: unemployment, inflation, national unity, public finance management and international affairs. Using aggregate-level Gallup poll data from a 50-year period, the study shows not only that Canadians distinguish between federal parties based on their issue-handling capabilities, but also that party images are not impervious to change. Two particular moments of realignment in party images are identified: the beginning of the 1960s, and the early 1990s. The image of the federal Liberal party clearly benefited from both periods. Beyond the expected projection effect of party popularity, two factors are shown to account at least partially for these variations over time in issue ownership. The parties' performance while in office and the arrival of new competitors within the party system in the 1993 election are both found to significantly affect perceptions of party competence in Canada.
Civic Literacy and Falling Electoral Turnout: The United Kingdom 1992-1997
Authors: Pattie C. J. , Johnston R. J.
Published: April 2008

Aggregate cross-national analyses of political participation have reported correlations between civic literacy, political knowledge and election turnout. Enhancing civic literacy among Canadian voters, in part by encouraging greater newspaper readership in the general population, has been put forward as a strategy for combating falling turnout in national general elections. The idea is evaluated comparatively at the level of individual voters, using data from the British Election Study. Newspaper readership is related to political knowledge, but increased newspaper reading does not translate into a greater propensity to vote.
Paradiplomatie identitaire et diplomatie en Belgique fédérale: le cas de la Flandre
Authors: Paquin Stéphane
Published: April 2008

Federal states like Belgium operate under conflicting pressures in the conduct of their international relations: centralizing pressures, on the one hand, imposed by the necessity of speaking with a single voice in order to forge a coherent international policy and decentralizing pressures, on the other, because globalization stimulates a qualitative and quantitative extension of the internal and international roles of substate players, mainly through the international deployment of substate paradiplomacy. This centralization of external affairs and the centrifugal forces introduced by globalization cause problems in this type of system, in which substate entities have numerous fields of jurisdiction. This new phenomenon is not without its risks because it leads to disorder and conflict. In many countries, the development of paradiplomacy by the substate actors creates conflict with the central government. The impression is created that the federal and the substate authorities are condemned to fight a zero-sum struggle for access to the international system, the former seeking to prevent the latter from playing a role in the development of foreign policy and to limit all international action by them. The case of Belgium is of particular interest since its substate entities are the most dynamic regions in the world in international relations. The objective of this article is to evaluate the impact of the Flemish identity paradiplomacy on the foreign policy of the federal state.
Constituency Homogeneity, Economic Risk and Support for Quebec Sovereignty: A Research Note
Authors: Duchesne Erick , Eagles Munroe , Erfle Stephen
Published: April 2008

This article presents a test of the argument that vulnerability to economic dislocation, primarily as it is represented by economic homogeneity in communities, exercises a constraint on levels of support for Quebec nationalism. The guiding hypothesis is that residents of economically vulnerable ridings will be reluctant to accept the risks attached with political moves toward independence. The authors employ data on the level of support for the Bloc Québécois in the federal elections of 1993 and 1997, and the proportion voting "Yes" in the 1995 sovereignty referendum in Quebec, in the province's 75 federal electoral districts as their measures of support for sovereignty. Results suggest that there is a relationship between the geographies of potential economic vulnerability and the level of nationalist support, particularly evident in the 1995 referendum voting and the 1997 election. Calculations involving perceived economic vulnerability and risk remain as powerful defenders of the political status quo in Quebec.
Does the Local Candidate Matter? Candidate Effects in the Canadian Election of 2000
Authors: Blais André , Gidengil Elisabeth , Dobrzynska Agnieszka , Nevitte Neil , Adeau Richard
Published: April 2008

This article ascertains the impact of local candidates on vote choice in the 2000 Canadian election. The authors show that 44 per cent of Canadian voters formed a preference for a local candidate and that this preference had an effect on vote choice independent of how people felt about the parties and the leaders. The findings suggest that the local candidate was a decisive consideration for 5 per cent of Canadian voters, 6 per cent outside Quebec and 2 per cent in Quebec. Although preference for a local candidate had a similar effect on urban and rural voters, as well as on voters of varying degrees of sophistication, the findings revealed that rural voters and more sophisticated voters were more likely to have formed a preference for their local candidate. As a consequence, the local candidate was more likely to be a decisive consideration for more sophisticated rural voters.
Linking Ideas and Opportunities in Contentious Politics: The Israeli Nonparliamentary Opposition to the Peace Process
Authors: Haklai Oded
Published: April 2008

Theorists of contentious politics have been divided over the influence on agency behaviour of ideational or cultural factors on the one hand, and rational strategic calculations of opportunities on the other. Based on an Israeli nonparliamentary opposition movement to the peace process, this study presents an integrative approach in which ideational variables are elevated to the level of independent motivating forces in which the objectives of the movement are embedded. Argumentation at the strategic level provides the movement with opportunities for increasing its support basis beyond the natural constituency with which it shares ideology and, ultimately, for mobilizing protest. The case illustrates how a political context that limits activity actually mobilizes contention, while a context of more open opportunity can demobilize protest activity.
Parliament and the Democratization of Foreign Policy: The Case of Australia's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties
Authors: Capling Ann , Nossal Kim Richard
Published: April 2008

There is little agreement about the degree to which parliamentary institutions can help overcome the democratic deficit in global governance. While much of the literature on the European Union's democratic deficit focuses on reforming parliament, most commentary on the subject in global governance and foreign policy holds out little hope that national parliaments could be used to mitigate the effects of the internationalization of public policy. This article examines the case of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), established by the Australian government in 1996 in an explicit attempt to use parliamentary reform to address the democratic deficit. Although JSCOT was highly active, it did not significantly change the way in which Australian national positions in international negotiations were arrived at; the democratic deficit created in Australia by increasing internationalization has not been mitigated by the creation of this committee. While the JSCOT initiatives might have been motivated by the concerns of the government of John Howard to overcome the democratic deficit, the way in which JSCOT actually evolved departed considerably from those original intentions. Ironically, JSCOT evolved in ways not dissimilar to the evolution of NGO consultation in Canada in the 1990s: as a tool of political management, a means by which the government could channel protest, deflect opposition, and in essence legitimize its own policy preferences.
Public-Private Partnership? Shifting Paradigms of Economic Governance in Ontario
Authors: Bradford Neil
Published: April 2008

In recent years, many governments have embraced new modes of economic governance that rely on public-private partnerships. These forms of governance effectively devolve authority and responsibility from the state, and instead rely on the policy networks found in civil society.This article argues that despite the general enthusiasm for such decentralized collaboration, there is significant variation in its meaning and practice. Comparing the public-private partnership strategies of two governments in Ontario in the 1990s, the article analyzes the origins and progress of two distinctive governance paradigms, looking for signs of economic innovation.The case studies demonstrate that each of the social democratic and neoliberal paradigms contains its own specific representational logic, organizational design, and policy purpose. The article underscores the analytical importance of linking the study of decentralized policy networks at the meso or local scale to macro-level political and economic factors that condition their operation and effects. It concludes with a discussion of the obstacles to institutional innovation in Ontario, and the conditions that facilitate successful public-private partnerships in economic governance.
Another Kind of Science: Christopher Alexander on Democratic Theory and the Built Environment
Authors: Walker Brian
Published: April 2008

This article concerns the political ramifications of character-giving, the work we do intensifying our ideals in the environments and populations around us. The premise here is that strategies of character-giving are just as crucial to the construction of a well-ordered society as the promotion of justice or stability. This theme is explored through an examination of the works of Christopher Alexander, a modern urban planner who shares many of the concerns of contemporary political science. Alexander's central project is to learn how to bring a more humane and democratic character to the modern cityscape. This kind of "reconstructive" humanism might be seen as a fitting model for renewal in political science.
The Changing Nature of Public Support for the Supreme Court of Canada
Authors: Hausegger Lori , Riddell Troy
Published: April 2008

This paper investigates the relationship between
diffuse support for the Canadian Supreme Court (general, lasting
attachments to the institution) and specific support (attitudes toward
its policy outputs). We hypothesize that diffuse support for the Court
will not be closely related to specific support until after 1988, when
the Court began making a number of controversial decisions. Using data
from 1987 and 1997 we test multivariate models of the determinants of
diffuse support and discover that it is indeed correlated more with
democratic norms than with attitudes toward specific policies in 1987,
while the reverse is true in 1997. The fact that support for the Court
now appears to be more closely tied to its outputs could have important
political implications for the Court and its decisions.
Harold Innis and Comparative Politics: A Critical Assessment
Authors: Athwal Amardeep
Published: April 2008

In recent decades, the field of comparative politics generally has
retreated from grand explanatory models and narrowed its scope and
research ambitions (Katznelson, 1997; Lichbach, 1997). This is
particularly evident in the structural–historical approach as well as in
the increasingly influential rational choice and postmodern approaches
to comparative research (Kohli et al., 1995: 2; Lijphart, 1970:
682–93;
Skocpol and Summers, 1980: 174–97). The 1995 World Politics Symposium,
at which leading comparativists gathered to discuss “The Role of Theory
in Comparative Politics” was clear evidence of this trend. Many analysts
deemed the construction of theory, or the “messy centre” in comparative
politics, problematic and some realized the attractiveness of
alternative approaches (Kohli et al., 1995). As Katznelson noted of
recent comparative scholarship, “compared to the work of their
predecessors… scholars in comparative politics have shortened their time
horizons, contracted their regime questions, and narrowed the range of
considered outcomes” (Katznelson, 1997).
The Political Impact of NAFTA on Mexico: Reflections on the Political Economy of Democratization
Authors: Cameron Maxwell A. , Wise Carol
Published: April 2008

At the time of the decision to negotiate the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), advocates argued that closer integration with Canada
and the United States would have a democratizing influence on
Mexico's
political regime (Baer and Weintraub, 1994: 174–79; Pastor, 1993: 67).
Critics of the deal suggested just the opposite, insisting that
NAFTA might perpetuate or even reinvigorate authoritarian rule (Aguilar
Zinser, 1993: 203–15; Castañeda 1996). With the breakthrough elections
of July 2000 and the transfer of executive power to an opposition party
the — PAN, or National Action Party — it is timely to ask: were the
advocates of NAFTA right all along? Was NAFTA the impetus for
Mexico's
long overdue transition to democracy?
Behind the Polling–Booth Curtain and beyond Simple Speculations:
Toward a Causal Model of Far–Right Voting Behaviour Some Evidence from
French Presidential Elections of 2002
Authors: Bonnetain Philippe
Published: April 2008

The electoral surge of the National Front (NF) in the 2002 French
presidential election was unprecedented. It marked the first time that a
far–right candidate reached the second round of voting in a presidential
election: Jean–Marie Le Pen, leader of the NF party, passed the first
round on April 21, 2002, beating 16 other candidates with 16.86 per cent
of the vote against 19.88 per cent for the incumbent President Jacques
Chirac (Rassemblement pour la République RPR) and 16.18 per cent for the
incumbent Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (Parti Socialiste PS).
The City-Suburban Cleavage in Canadian Federal Politics
Authors: Walks R. Alan
Published: April 2008

Abstract.Despite increasing speculation and attention, as of yet insufficient empirical research has been conducted on the possibility of a political cleavage based on differences between Canadian inner cities and suburbs. This article sheds light on the potential existence of such differences by analyzing federal elections at the level of the constituency from 1945 to 1997. Results show that city-suburban differences in federal party voting did not become significant until the 1980s, and increased after this point, with inner-city residents remaining to the left of the rest of Canada in their party preferences while suburbanites shifted increasingly to the right in their voting patterns. The results obtained from regression analysis suggest that such a divergence cannot be reduced solely to differences in social composition, housing tenure, or region, and thus confirm that it constitutes a ‘true’ political cleavage. It is argued that intra-urban geography needs to taken into account in future analyses of Canadian political behaviour.

Résumé.Malgré un intérêt croissant pour la question, il existe encore peu de recherches empiriques sur un possible clivage politique dont les fondements seraient les différences entre les quartiers urbains centraux et les banlieues. Cet article jette un nouvel éclairage sur l'existence possible de ces différences à partir d'une analyse des résultats électoraux dans les circonscriptions fédérales entre 1945 et 1997. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que les différences entre le vote pour les partis politiques fédéraux ne sont devenues significatives que pendant les années 1980, mais qu'elles se sont exacerbées par la suite, les résidents de quartiers centraux demeurant à la gauche de l'échiquier politique tandis que les banlieues votaient de plus en plus à droite. Les résultats de l'analyse de régression suggèrent que ces différences ne sont pas seulement attribuables à la composition sociale, au taux de propriété, ou encore à la région, et constituent par le fait même un “ véritable ” clivage politique. L'auteur conclut que l'analyse géographique intra-urbaine devra être prise en compte dans les analyses futures du comportement politique Canadien.
Long-Term Economic Hardship and Non-Mainstream Voting in Canada
Authors: Perrella Andrea M.L.
Published: April 2008

Abstract.Canadian voting behaviour from 1979 to 2000 is examined by relating long-term economic changes to support for “non-mainstream” parties, defined as parties other than the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives. This long-term perspective is unique, in that standard economic voting research focuses mostly on how short-term economic changes affect support levels for the incumbent. In order to illustrate the effects of long-term economic decline, federal voting results are related with short- and long-term economic data, namely unemployment and labour-force participation rates, all aggregated at the provincial level. The pooled data produces results that confirm the relevance of short-term changes to explain support for the incumbent party, while support for non-mainstream parties is, instead, explained by long-term economic changes.

Résumé.Cet article examine le comportement électoral des Canadiens de 1979 à 2000 en reliant les changements économiques à long terme à l'appui accordé aux partis “ non dominants ”, à savoir les partis autres que les libéraux et les conservateurs. Cette perspective à long terme est unique en son genre car les recherches standard sur le vote économique étudient surtout le retentissement des changements économiques à court terme sur l'appui au parti sortant. Pour illustrer les effets du déclin économique à long terme, nous avons relié les résultats des élections fédérales aux données économiques à court et à long terme, notamment les taux de chômage et de participation de la population active, calculés à l'échelon provincial. Les données agrégées donnent des résultats qui confirment la pertinence des changements à court terme pour expliquer l'appui au parti sortant, tandis que le soutien aux partis “ non dominants ” s'explique au contraire par les changements économiques à long terme.
Disparate Fates in Challenging Times: Women's Policy Agencies and Neoliberalism in Aotearoa/New Zealand and British Columbia
Authors: Teghtsoonian Katherine
Published: April 2008

Abstract.This article develops an explanation for the different approaches to existing women's policy agencies adopted by governments of the right elected to office in Aotearoa/New Zealand (in 1990) and in the province of British Columbia (in 2001). In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Ministry of Women's Affairs remained structurally intact, while in British Columbia the Ministry of Women's Equality was eliminated and replaced with a women's policy agency that constitutes a small subunit within a much larger ministry. My analysis of these developments focuses on the impact of two institutional features of the women's ministries: (1) the nature of the activities in which they were involved and the different allocations of their budgetary resources that these activities entailed; and (2) the relationship between each ministry and community-based women's groups. I also explore the interaction between these institutional variables and the particular way in which a discourse of “special interests” has been expressed within the party of the right in each case.

Résumé.Cet article développe une explication des différences d'attitude envers les agences chargées des politiques concernant les femmes entre les gouvernements de droite qui ont été élus à Aotearoa/Nouvelle-Zélande (en 1990), et en Colombie-Britannique (en 2001). À Aotearoa/Nouvelle-Zélande, la structure du ministère des Affaires des femmes est restée intacte, tandis qu'en Colombie-Britannique le ministère de l'Égalité des femmes a été éliminé et remplacé par une agence chargée des politiques concernant les femmes, qui n'est qu'une petite sous-unité d'un ministère beaucoup plus étendu. Mon analyse de ces développements porte sur l'impact de deux aspects institutionnels des ministères de la condition féminine: (1) le caractère de leurs activités et les différences correspondantes d'allocation de leurs ressources budgétaires; (2) le rapport entre chaque ministère et les groupes féministes des collectivités locales. En plus, j'explore l'interaction entre ces variables institutionnelles et la formation de l'argument d'“ intérêts particuliers ” avancé par le parti de droite dans chaque cas.
Crossing the Atlantic: Comparing the European Union and Canada
Authors: Michelmann Hans
Published: April 2008

Crossing the Atlantic: Comparing the European Union and Canada,
Patrick M. Crowley, ed., Aldershot, Hants and Burlington, Vt., Ashgate
Publishing Limited, 2004, pp. vi, 231.

Edited volumes are notoriously difficult to organize around a
well-focused theme. This is particularly so when chapters originate from a
conference exploring a number of topics with participants from different
academic backgrounds. Further complexity arises when chapters are
subsequently added, as they were in Crossing the Atlantic.
Reviewing such a volume and suggesting an audience for it, in turn, is a
challenge because of the inevitable variability in topics, theoretical
assumptions and writing styles found in such a collective work.
Greening NAFTA: The North American Commission for Environmental
Co-operation
Authors: McKenzie Judith
Published: April 2008

Greening NAFTA: The North American Commission for Environmental
Co-operation, David L. Markell & John H. Knox, eds., Stanford Law
& Politics Series; Stanford University Press, 2003, pp. xv, 324.

At first blush, the title of this book, Greening NAFTA, would
likely be viewed as an oxymoron by most environmentalists. After all, the
environmental critiques of free trade including the massive use of fossil
fuels in transporting goods around the globe and a “race to the
bottom” as it relates to environmental standards, among others,
continue to resonate among North American environmentalists. However, once
one has tucked into this volume, it becomes clear that the intent of this
edited collection is to examine how effective the North American
Commission for Environmental Cooperation (the NACEC or CEC) has been in
its (now) ten years of existence. Its genesis was largely the result of
widespread objections made by North American environmental groups and, at
the time it was created (1994), it was the first international
organization created to address the environmental aspects and issues
associated with economic integration. In some respects, a more appropriate
title for this edition would have included a question mark after the word
NAFTA, because the contributors to this book have very mixed assessments
as to whether the CEC has fulfilled its early promise of having a greening
effect on NAFTA.
The Shifting Foundations of Modern Nation-States
Authors: Stevenson Garth
Published: April 2008

The Shifting Foundations of Modern Nation-States, Sima Godfrey and
Frank Unger, eds., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004, pp. xi,
164.

The collapse of communism, the end of the cold war, and the seeming
inevitability of what is euphemistically termed globalization have shifted
the parameters of political discourse away from the traditional issues of
economics and class or, as Harold Lasswell succinctly put it almost seven
decades ago, who gets what, when, how. The new discourse focuses instead
on the politics of identity and, whether one likes it or not, nationalism
still occupies a very prominent place among the identities cherished by
various groups of human beings. Thus the last fifteen years have seen a
proliferation of books, articles, and conference papers devoted to the
subject of nationalism, in Canada and elsewhere.
Contre l'espoir comme tâche politique.
Authors: Paris Vincent
Published: April 2008

Contre l'espoir comme tâche politique., Lawrence Olivier.,
Montréal : Liber, 2004, 247 p.

Lawrence Olivier est un penseur et un philosophe de la
modernité. Il n'est pas moderne, il n'est pas
traditionnel et, Dieu merci, il n'est pas postmoderne non plus. Son
dernier essai “ Contre l'espoir comme tâche politique
” donne cependant l'impression d'un immense plaidoyer
contre le défi que s'est lancé l'humain moderne
à lui-même. Défi situé au cœur même
de la modernité, soit celui de “ faire de l'homme un
homme ” à travers ce qu'il appelle “ le principe
espérance ”, porté entre autres par
l'éducation et l'expérience politique depuis le
dix-huitième siècle.
The Biblical Politics of John Locke
Authors: Eisenach Eldon J.
Published: April 2008

The Biblical Politics of John Locke, Kim Ian Parker, Editions SR,
Volume 29; Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004, pp.
ix, 211.

Parker's study is on the foundational role played by the creation
story of Genesis in Locke's moral and political philosophy.
Locke's First Treatise against patriarchalism was not only a
refutation of Filmer's reading of Adam and original sin, it was a
positive rereading of that story suggesting “an emancipation of
humanity almost unprecedented in theological writings” (38).
Locke's distinction between paternal and political power, then, is
not merely a way of “scoring polemical points against Filmer”
but becomes a way “to form the basis of his political theory”
(120). What can too easily be read as “merely” exegetical
polemic in the First Treatise is translated into philosophical
argument in the Second Treatise.
Heidegger. L'introduction du nazisme dans la philosophie.
Autour des séminaires inédits de 1933–1935
Authors: Mussi Sébastien
Published: April 2008

Heidegger. L'introduction du nazisme dans la philosophie.
Autour des séminaires inédits de 1933–1935,
Emmanuel Faye, Paris, Albin Michel, 2005, 567 pages.

Pour un lecteur de Heidegger, l'ouvrage d'Emmanuel Faye est
assez pénible. En faire une critique est périlleux car, en
défendant la possibilité de lire Heidegger, on risque
d'être catégorisé comme penseur nazi (rien de
moins), fût-ce à son insu, et, en acceptant la
démonstration de Faye, on s'interdit l'accès
à une pensée qui a eu une influence décisive sur la
philosophie contemporaine.
Le gouvernement du monde. Une critique politique de la
globalisation
Authors: Ndiaye Papa Samba
Published: April 2008

Le gouvernement du monde. Une critique politique de la
globalisation, Jean François Bayart, Paris : Fayard, 2004, 448
pages.

La mondialisation constitue-t-elle une nouvelle ontologie dans le
domaine des relations internationales? C'est la question principale
qu'essaie d'aborder cet ouvrage de Jean François Bayart.
Selon l'auteur en effet, la globalisation demande à être
saisie dans son historicité, c'est-à-dire, dans sa
banalité. Parce qu'elle est une configuration historique, la
globalisation est singulière. Elle est un régime
spécifique de pouvoir et d'accumulation et, en tant que telle,
elle appelle un traitement ordinaire.
L'empire blessé : Washington à
l'épreuve de l'asymétrie
Authors: Morin Michaël
Published: April 2008

L'empire blessé : Washington à
l'épreuve de l'asymétrie, Barthélemy
Courmont, Québec : Presses de l'Université du
Québec, 2005, 271 pages.

Dans son livre récent, Barthélémy Courmont
soutient que l'empire américain fait face à une
multiplication d'adversaires asymétriques depuis quelques
années. À l'époque d'autres empires, on les
appelait les “ barbares ”; aujourd'hui, c'est une
multitude de groupes qui sont considérés comme
menaçants ou terroristes. Les réponses politiques
américaines ne sont plus adéquates pour faire face à
de tels adversaires, dont la variété rend inopérante
toute solution uniforme. Si l'empire américain veut
éviter de suivre dans leur chute tous les autres empires qui
l'ont précédé dans l'histoire, ses
décideurs devront développer des solutions adaptées
aux nouveaux opposants et aux menaces que ces derniers suscitent. Sinon,
les coups répétés assénés par les
opposants mineront la suprématie mondiale des
États-Unis.
Mouvements sociaux et changements institutionnels : L'action
collective à l'ère de la mondialisation
Authors: Ouellet Maxime
Published: April 2008

Mouvements sociaux et changements institutionnels : L'action
collective à l'ère de la mondialisation, Louis
Guay, Pierre Hamel, Dominique Masson et Jean-Guy Vaillancourt (sous la
direction de), Québec : Presses de l'Université du
Québec, 2005, 420 pages.

Cet ouvrage dirigé par Guay, Hamel, Masson et Vaillancourt
cherche à revoir la problématisation de l'action
collective au regard des transformations sociales contemporaines.
L'angle d'analyse privilégié par les
différents auteurs est celui des rapports entre mouvements sociaux
et institutions. Ce rapport ne peut plus être
considéré comme nécessairement conflictuel
étant donné que les mouvements sociaux “
n'hésitent plus à intervenir à partir ou au sein
des institutions elles-mêmes ” (p. 2). Cette transformation
des mouvements sociaux constitue en quelque sorte un paradoxe dont le
chercheur intéressé à ces questions doit tenir compte
car l'analyse traditionnelle des nouveaux mouvements sociaux –
voir Offe, par exemple – a souvent considéré le
caractère extra-institutionnel de ce type d'action collective
comme une de ses particularités.
Smoke and Mirrors: Globalized Terrorism and the Illusion of
Multilateral Security
Authors: Bapat Navin A.
Published: April 2008

Smoke and Mirrors: Globalized Terrorism and the Illusion of
Multilateral Security, Frank P. Harvey, Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2004, p. x, 345.

Following the second Gulf War, international observers were quick to
criticize the unilateral behaviour of the United States. Without a UN
mandate, the allies had undermined the very institution they had created
to foster multilateralism following the Second World War. Yet, Frank
Harvey makes the case that not only is unilateralism the new trend in
American foreign policy, it is desirable in an age of terrorism and
nuclear proliferation. Harvey begins by scrutinizing the foundations of
multilateralism and their applicability to the post 9/11 world. He
concludes that not only is the higher moral ground associated with
multilateralism a fallacy, but that multilateralism can be dangerous in an
era where rapid responses to security threats are needed. To justify his
conclusions, Harvey examines both the buildup to the 2003 Iraq conflict
and the issue of Ballistic Missile Defense. He concludes with an analysis
of future U.S. and Canadian security policy.
Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11 Afghanistan and Beyond
Authors: Ross Jeffrey Ian
Published: April 2008

Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11 Afghanistan and Beyond, Mary
Buckley and Rick Fawn, eds., New York: Routledge, 2003.

In the aftermath of 9/11, book publishers have been relatively
quick to release works that somehow capitalize on the public's demand
for insight with respect to terrorism and groups such as Al-Qaeda. Many of
the monographs have been the work of journalists, others the efforts of
scholars, and some the writings of practitioners. Still other books have
been the result of collaborations, either in edited or co-authored forms,
among writers from different backgrounds, training and experience.
Globalization and Society: Processes of Differentiation
Examined
Authors: Marden Peter
Published: April 2008

Globalization and Society: Processes of Differentiation Examined, R.
Breton and J.G. Reitz, eds., Praeger: Westport, 2003, pp. 321.

There is currently a plethora of books on globalization in all of its
guises. Many of these fail to seriously contribute to a growing body of
literature in any intellectually rigorous way because they either simply
re-hash well-worn notions about global political economy or culture, or
provide a weakly disguised postmodern attempt to textualise social and
economic change. There are some notable exceptions, however, and this book
is one of them. The first thing to strike you with this edited collection
is the sheer breadth of the scale ranging from trends in global inequality
to considerations about nationalism and the crisis of the welfare state.
This is a comprehensive treatment of a highly complex set of processes
which does not uncritically apply the term “globalization”
without recourse to informed theoretical debate concerning the active role
of civil society, forms of governmentality and the nation state. While the
authors do not completely escape forms of reductionism in the language
used, they do nonetheless attempt to ground this reasoning within a
critical context which avoids the excesses of idiosyncratic localization
or convergence theories.
Does Turnout Decline Matter? Electoral Turnout and Partisan Choice in the 1997 Canadian Federal Election
Authors: Martinez Michael D. , Gill Jeff
Published: April 2008

Abstract.The recent decline in electoral turnout in Canada has attracted the concern of scholars and public officials, but the partisan consequences of this decline have received only scant attention. We begin to address that question with a simulation based on the 1997 Canadian Election Study. Based on estimated probabilities of individual behaviour derived from multinomial logit models of voter choice, we find that higher turnout would have likely hurt the Liberal party in Quebec, but slightly helped the Liberals outside of Quebec. We interpret this pattern as evidence that generational politics plays a role in shaping the relationship between electoral turnout and partisan support.

Résumé.Le déclin récent dans la participation électorale au Canada a attiré l'intérêt des chercheurs et des représentants de l'Etat, mais les conséquences partisanes de ce déclin n'ont sucité qu'une attention limitée. Nous commençons à aborder cette question à l'aide d'une simulation basée sur l'Etude électorale canadienne de 1997. En nous appuyant sur des probabilités estimatives du comportement individuel dérivées de modèles logistique multinominal du choix d'électeur, nous constatons qu'une participation plus importante aurait probablement nuit au Parti Libéral au Québec, mais aurait légèrement favorisé le Parti Libéral en dehors du Québec. Nous interprétons ce modèle comme preuve que la politique de générations contribue à la formation du rapport entre la participation électorale et l'appui partisan.
Research Note: Rawls Revisited: Can International Criminal Law Exist?
Authors: Fisher Kirsten J.
Published: April 2008

Abstract.Questions concerning how Rawls's theory of justice accords with international criminal justice are largely ignored in favour of extensive debates on questions of distributive justice and how they relate to his theory and its international application. This lack of attention to international criminal law is significant since Rawls claims that his theory of justice is developed to correspond with recent dramatic shifts in international law. This paper argues that it is impossible for Rawls's account, state-centric as it is, to accord with advancements in international law that have increasingly asserted recognition of individuals in the global context.

Résumé.Les questions concernant comment la théorie de justice de Rawls est en accord avec la justice criminelle internationale sont en grande partie ignorée, même pendant qu'en même temps sa théorie et son application internationale sont profondement discutée par rapport à la justice distributive. Ce manque d'attention à la loi criminelle internationale est important, puisque Rawls prétende que sa théorie de justice est développée en correspondance avec les récents changements dramatiques au niveau de la loi internationale. Cette exposé argumente qu'il est impossible que l'explication de Rawls, état-centré comme elle l'est, s'accorde avec les avancements en la loi internationale qui affirment de plus en plus la reconnaissance des individus dans le contexte global.
Le désengagement de l'État providence
Authors: Canet Raphaël
Published: April 2008

Le désengagement de l'État providence,
Nicole F. Bernier, Montréal : Presses de l'Université
de Montréal, coll. Politique et Économie, 2003, 268 p.

Au seuil du 21ème siècle, alors
qu'émergent des débats passionnés sur les
tenants et les aboutissants de la mondialisation néolibérale
et des nouvelles formes de régulation politique qui la
sous-tendent, la question de la place de l'État dans la
société est devenue un sujet politique de premier plan. Des
discussions internationales sur les préceptes du Consensus de
Washington (privatisation, libéralisation,
déréglementation), au projet de
réingénierie de l'État au
Québec, l'interventionnisme étatique est remis en
question de toutes parts. Le rôle de l'État, et
notamment sa dimension providentialiste, se situe ainsi au cœur des
clivages idéologiques contemporains et donne lieu à toute
sortes de prises de position.
Canada's Regional Innovation Systems: The Science-based
Industries
Authors: Globerman Steven
Published: April 2008

Canada's Regional Innovation Systems: The Science-based
Industries, Jorge Niosi, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's
University Press, 2005, pp. x, 171.

Encouraging innovation in order to promote the growth of productivity
and higher real incomes continues to be a centrepiece of economic policy
in Canada. Canada's relatively poor performance in innovation and
productivity growth compared to the United States remains a vexing problem
in the minds of Canadian policymakers and academics. Notwithstanding much
study of the issue, as well as policy initiatives designed to address the
innovation and productivity gaps, it seems fair to say that we know much
less than we should about the causes of and remedies for those gaps. In
this respect, Jorge Niosi adds valuable information about how innovation
activity has evolved over time in Canada. In particular, Niosi provides
detailed discussions of the emergence and evolution in Canada of what has
been called regional innovation systems (RIS). In the course of the
discussions, he also offers some valuable policy insights with respect to
promoting the growth of RIS.
Politiques publiques comparées dans les États fédérés : L'Allemagne, l'Australie, le Canada, les États-Unis et la Suisse.
Authors: Rioux Jean-François F.
Published: April 2008

Politiques publiques comparées dans les États fédérés : L'Allemagne, l'Australie, le Canada, les États-Unis et la Suisse., Louis Imbeau (sous la direction de), Québec : Presses de l'Université Laval, 2005, 271 pp.

Dans cet ouvrage intituléPolitiques publiques comparées dans les États fédérés : L'Allemagne, l'Australie, le Canada, les États-Unis et la Suisse, l'équipe réunie par Louis Imbeau approfondit quatre défis de gouvernance, soit la santé, l'éducation, l'environnement et l'équilibre budgétaire. Dans cette aventure, les membres fédérés de cinq régimes fédéraux sont retenus comme cobayes. Les politiques publiques allemandes, australiennes, canadiennes, américaines et suisses sont alors passées en revue.
Policing Chinese Politics: A History
Authors: Xu Feng
Published: April 2008

Policing Chinese Politics: A History, Michael Dutton, Durham:
Duke University Press, pp. xiii, 411.

This book is an empirically rich illumination of Carl Schmitt's
notion that “the political” rests ultimately on a
friend/enemy distinction. It depicts “the birth, life and death
cycle” of this ever-shifting dynamic in modern Chinese history
(303–4), through the lens of the coupling of the political with
policing. The result is a tale that must enhance the reputation of this
already-respected political scientist.
Social Policy and the Ethic of Care
Authors: Hughes Bill
Published: April 2008

Social Policy and the Ethic of Care, Olena Hankivsky,
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004, pp. 178.

In this tightly argued text, Olena Hankivsky examines “the
potential of an ethic of care to transform the assumptions, content,
concepts and meaning of social justice” (30). This is a big task for
a small book but the author not only makes a persuasive theoretical case
for an ethic of care but also manages to demonstrate the practical
efficacy of her argument by showing how an ethic of care can inspire a
reformation of social policy. The liberal case for social justice, the
author contends, falls flat and remains abstract unless it is
fundamentally transformed by the normative assumptions that arise from a
moral landscape fully informed by the ubiquity of human interdependence.
The liberal conception of social justice is shackled by its emphasis on
the autonomous citizen and an abstract conception of humanity. It fails to
recognize that rights arise from needs.
Pourquoi les intellectuels n'aiment pas le
libéralisme
Authors: Laberge, Yves
Published: April 2008

Pourquoi les intellectuels n'aiment pas le
libéralisme, Raymond Boudon, Paris: Odile Jacob, 2004, pp.
242.

Professeur émérite à la Sorbonne, co-responsable
de trois dictionnaires de sociologie et auteur d'une vingtaine de
livres depuis quarante ans, le sociologue Raymond Boudon pose dans son
avant-dernier livre une question symptomatique, qui donne lieu à un
long exposé, à savoir: “ Pourquoi les intellectuels
n'aiment-ils pas le libéralisme ? ”. Pour y
répondre, l'auteur procède en plusieurs étapes
et commence par mettre en évidence ce qu'il désigne
comme des “ raisons sociocognitives qui font que telle ou telle
catégorie d'intellectuels développe une attitude
négative à l'égard du libéralisme ”
(p. 16). Par la suite, il examine quelques raisons qui feraient que
certains discours sur l'anti-libéralisme trouvent un auditoire
à la fois aussi nombreux et aussi attentif. Ce livre clair et
vivant fait suite à une conférence publique donnée en
Suisse en septembre 2003.
Le démantèlement de l'État
démocratique
Authors: Lévesque Donald
Published: April 2008

Le démantèlement de l'État
démocratique, Ezra Suleiman, Paris : Le Seuil, 2005, 398
pp.

Professeur de science politique à l'Université de
Princeton, en sus rattaché à l'Institut
d'études politiques de Paris, Ezra Suleiman peut être vu
comme une sorte d'oiseau rare. Voilà, en effet, un
Américain (né, il est vrai, au Moyen-Orient et ayant fait
une partie de ses études en Europe) qui prend passionnément
fait et cause pour l'idée d'un nécessaire
rôle régulateur de l'État dans nos
sociétés complexes (58) et fait de l'actuelle tendance
à remettre en cause cette idée son cheval de bataille.
Economics as Ideology: Keynes, Laski, Hayek, and the Creation of
Contemporary Politics
Authors: Dobuzinskis Laurent
Published: April 2008

Economics as Ideology: Keynes, Laski, Hayek, and the Creation of
Contemporary Politics, Kenneth R. Hoover, Rowman and Littlefield,
2003, pp. xv, 329.

Although it was published two years ago, this book remains relevant to
many contemporary debates about the optimal relationship between market
and state institutions, especially if we want to set these debates within
a historical context. To provide an account of the development of economic
thinking in the twentieth century, Hoover carefully examines the lives,
personalities and writings of three emblematic thinkers: Harold Laski,
John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich A. Hayek. The title is somewhat
misleading in the sense that it refers to a particular meaning of the term
“ideology” that may not be shared by all those who come across
this book, but the author justifies it by explaining that he takes
ideology to mean a set of a priori contestable propositions that are posed
as being unchallengeable or, in other words, have been
“decontested.” Thus the question he is interested in is:
“Why did these thinkers decontest ideas about government and the
market in the way they did?” (4).
Editorial Foreword
Authors: Trautmann Thomas R.
Published: April 2008

BECOMING NATIONALISTS Two articles explore ways of coming to nationalism from the margins, so to say.