bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Time Pressure and War Initiation: Some Linkages
Authors: Paul T.V.
Published: November 2009

This article examines the linkages by which time pressure influences national decision makers to initiate wars. It is argued that time pressure matters most significantly as an intervening variable at the decision-maker level in conjunction with system and subsystem level variables, such as changes in relative strike capability and alliance relationships, and state level variables like military strategy and doctrine. Most studies treat time pressure as having relevance during an acute crisis; in this article, time pressure is viewed as having an intermediate-term significance, that is, prior to the escalation phase or during the early phase of a crisis. It is shown that independent variables such as relative capability, alliance relationships and military doctrines are most likely to be associated with war initiation when they are mediated by time pressure. The article also distinguishes between immediate time pressure—that occurs during the escalation phase of a crisis—and intermediate time pressure, which can happen prior to, and at the onset phase of a crisis.
Représentation des intérêts et législation commerciale au Sénat des États-Unis
Authors: Martin Pierre
Published: November 2009

What explains the action of United States legislators in matters of international trade? Do they only respond to protectionist pressures or are they also responsive to pressures from groups favourable to free trade? Is their vote primarily influenced by diffuse or concentrated interests? What is the role played by ideology and partisanship in determining their vote? Given the increasingly important share of exports in the US economy in recent years, the presence in their constituencies of industries potentially hurt by more protectionist policies should influence the voting patterns of members of the US Congress to a similar extent as would the presence of import-sensitive industries. The analysis of a composite index of support for free trade suggests that US senators are not sensitive only to the protectionist demands of import-sensitive industries, but also to exporters' demands for the maintenance of policies consistent with a liberal trade regime. In sum, the political responsiveness that leads legislators to defend industries in their constituencies is not a one-way street. Interdependence means that it can also work to foster the maintenance of existing liberal policies.
Critical Citizenship and Civil Society in Contemporary China
Authors: Chan Alfred L. , Nesbitt-Larking Paul
Published: November 2009

In this investigation of civil society in China, the authors develop a new concept: “critical citizenship,” defined as the propensity of citizens to discriminate in their support for the political community, the regime and the authorities. Critical citizenship is employed to indicate the presence of civil society in contemporary China. Using survey data gathered throughout China by Min Qi, the authors test hypotheses about the propensity of Chinese citizens toward critical citizenship. They conclude that the Chinese indeed discriminate in their support for the three objects of political attention, and that youth are particularly likely to manifest critical citizenship.
Attentes économiques et linguistiques et appui à la souveraineté du Québec: une analyse prospective et comparative
Authors: Blais André , Martin Pierre , Nadeau Richard
Published: November 2009

Why are Quebeckers favourably disposed or opposed to sovereignty? This choice partly depends upon the prospective evaluation of the costs and benefits of sovereignty and federalism. What are the relative contributions of economic and linguistic expectations in this choice? Does the impact of these expectations vary according to the time horizon in which they are set? The authors approach these questions from the perspective of the economic theory of voting and with the help of original measures of the determinants of support for sovereignty. They compare expectations of what would occur to the economy and to the French language were Quebec to become a sovereign country with expectations of what would occur if Quebec remained a province of Canada. These measures are taken from a survey of university students. Our logistic regression analysis shows that the implicit calculation of costs and benefits plays a significant role in the choice between sovereignty and federalism, and that economic expectations influence the formation of opinion to a somewhat greater degree than do linguistic expectations. Moreover, medium-term expectations are more important than short-term economic expectations and more important than long-term expectations about the situation of the French language in Quebec.
The Struggle overThe Valour and the Horror: Media Power and the Portrayal of War
Authors: Taras David
Published: November 2009

The Valour and the Horroris a series of three documentary films describing Canadian participation during the Second World War which were aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1992. The series aggressively challenged “official” war history, arguing that while ordinary soldiers served with dignity and bravery, the incompetence and immorality of senior British and Canadian commanders produced terrible blunders and losses and grotesque assaults against civilian populations in Germany. This article analyzes the controversy that surrounded the series, a controversy that mushroomed into a political struggle over who had the right to control “memory” and who had the right to produce and interpret “reality.” The struggle produced a Senate subcommittee investigation, placed the CBC under intense pressure and scrutiny and evoked strong reactions from veterans' groups and the journalistic and artistic communities. Three frameworks are used to assess the forces that contend against each other in media production: the hegemonic view (that the media celebrate and reinforce the dominant interests in society); the organizational or institutional perspective (that media organizations pursue their own interests even if these interests do not necessarily coincide with those of other dominant groups in society); and the journalist-centred framework (that journalists as professionals exercise considerable discretion over their own work). The article suggests that each of these perspectives can provide valuable insights, but that each by itself fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for the events. By utilizing multiple perspectives for the analysis, a wider range of questions is addressed.
Les nouveaux mouvements sociaux constituent-ils un défi pour les partis politiques? Le cas du Québec
Authors: Pelletier Réjean , Guérin Daniel
Published: November 2009

Does the rise of new social movements (NSMs) represent a challenge for the traditional political parties in Quebec? Though this question can be answered from many perspectives, this study focuses on the programmatic aspect of this challenge that encompasses both a number of new societal issues and adherence to new values promoted by the NSMs. More precisely, it addresses the following questions: have the issues of environment and the respect of women's rights been already integrated into the political platforms of the two mainstream political parties in Quebec, the Liberal Party of Quebec and the Parti Québécois? Can the activists of those political parties be distinguished from the members of environmental and women's rights movements with regard to their values? On the one hand, both the Liberal party and the Parti Québécois have for a long time incorporated into their platforms issues linked to the defence of the environment and to the promotion of gender equality. On the other hand, the authors observe that the adherence to postmaterialist values is stronger in the NSMs than in the parties. One main conclusion is that one cannot compare adherence to the new values in the parties and the NSMs as two homogeneous blocs. Instead, the authors see four distinct organizations. They encourage further research to examine other dimensions of the problem such as the organizational aspect of the political challenge posed by the rise of NSMs.
Terminating the Provincial Career: Retirement and Electoral Defeat in Canadian Provincial Legislatures, 1960–1997
Authors: Moncrief Gary F.
Published: November 2009

This article analyzes data on incumbent turnover in 103 provincial elections in Canada from 1960 to 1997. The author examines total turnover and the proportions attributable to retirement and electoral defeat. He notes that the overall rate of turnover in the provincial legislative assemblies is similar to that of the Canadian House of Commons. Further, voluntary retirement and electoral defeat comprise equal proportions of the total turnover. There are, however, important differences in the turnover rate and in its makeup, both by province and by time period. The author tests several models in an attempt to determine the correlates of turnover in Canadian provincial legislatures.
Facing Our Destiny: Rights and Canadian Distinctiveness
Authors: Elkins David J.
Published: November 2009

The Canadian Constitution contains several distinctive rights not found in the United States Constitution. Indeed, the collective and community-based rights Canadians take for granted are inimical to American liberal traditions. Negative rights or interpretive provisions, such as thenon obstanteclause, are unique to Canada among Western democracies. The author argues that these rights derive from the country's historical concerns with religious and linguistic communities—especially in Quebec—and that they in turn condition how politics must be conducted in Canada.
Representative Economic Democracy and the Problem of Policy Influence: The Case of Canadian Co-operatives
Authors: Laycock David
Published: November 2009

This article discusses interest representation by Canadian co-operative business associations, as a way of exploring difficulties faced by democratically structured group interests in influencing federal government policy. Several dimensions of co-operatives’ problems in this regard are examined: their internal structures of democratic representation, their reform ideology, their influence by two conflicting logics of collective action and selected aspects of federal policy development. The article concludes by contending that the problem of democratic representation by economic group interests in the policy process should be taken more seriously by Canadian political scientists.
Political Economy as a Hegemonic Project
Authors: Pal Leslie A.
Published: November 2009

No book, least of all an edited one, speaks with a single voice. A text is disguised counterpoint, punk plus Mozart, a riff that cuts across discordant harmonies. Considered this way, a book can no more be judged as simply good or bad than a symphony can be adequately described by its key signature. Nevertheless, The New Canadian Political Economy is a good book in every conventional sense. It meets, for example, all of the challenges of an edited collection: the essays are thematically coherent, uniformly well-written, rigorous and integrated around roughly similar questions. Together, they aim at nothing less than the “first publication of a comprehensive and systematic review of the new Canadian political economy” (4). Moreover, the editors have helpfully organized this review along two axes.
Military Power, Impunity and State-Society Change in Latin America
Authors: McSherry J. Patrice
Published: November 2009

The transition from military to civilian rule in Latin America has thrown a searchlight upon the legacy of military repression from the era of the national security states, and the problem of still-powerful and unrepentant armed forces. These intertwined problems have profound implications for the possibility of fundamental change in a region long characterized by extreme social inequality and political instability. As Rouquié notes, civilianization of the military state does not necessarily mean the democratization or demilitarization of power. How to deal with the perpetrators of state terror is a burning and controversial issue throughout the region. During the process of transition, the major demand of the military in virtually all states was for guarantees against accountability for human rights crimes—widely calledimpunityin the region—a demand that implicitly places the military above the law. This issue strikes at the very heart of the transformation of national security states and the democratization of power. Additionally, despite the transition from military rule, structures of the national security apparatus remain embedded within the civilian regimes. An examination of the question of impunity and those embedded structures exposes the tensions between democratization and persisting military prerogatives and power.
“Political-Discourse” Analysis and the Debate Over Canada's Lobbying Legislation
Authors: Stark Andrew
Published: November 2009

Recently, students of public policy making in North America have added the analysis of “political discourse” to the tools of their trade. According to the “political discourse” school, the extent to which policy ideas gain acceptability cannot always be explained rationally in terms of their logical or empirical validity, nor instrumentally in terms of the interests they serve. Often, their careers must be accounted for, at least in part, by a detailed exploration of their ideological assumptions and appeal, and their rhetorical structure and persuasiveness. Despite its many plausible and promising features, this type of analysis has, to date, rarely been performed in specific instances of policy discourse. The author presents a “political-discourse” analysis of the 1985–1988 debate over Canada's Bill C-82, “An Act Respecting the Registration of Lobbyists.” That debate brought together some of Canada's most factually informed and instrumentally motivated policy actors. Nevertheless, the participants uniformly based their arguments on broad assumptions unsubstantiated by empirical analysis, and advanced those arguments in the rhetoric of the public good and democratic theory. The author concludes that underlying the two basic positions taken in debate over C-82—support for a regime of substantial disclosure of lobbying activity on the one hand, and opposition to disclosure on the other—were two competing sets of assumptions concerning the nature and workings of the faculties of reason and perception in politics.
The Political Ecology of Campaign Contributions in Canada: A Constituency-Level Analysis
Authors: Eagles Munroe
Published: November 2009

This article explores the constituency dimension of campaign financing in the 1984 and 1988 federal elections in Canada. The analysis uncovers considerable variability in the capacity of constituency parties to attract campaign donations. These variations appear to be related to the past local and regional strengths of parties, to the expected closeness of the current contest, and to whether incumbents are running for re-election. Multivariate analyses suggest that these political variables have a broadly consistent impact on fund-raising after other features of the socio-economic diversity of constituencies have been controlled.
La démocratie chez Hérodote: une étude du Débat sur les régimes
Authors: Myers Richard
Published: November 2009

This article is a study of the first recorded text of political philosophy, the Debate on the Regimes in Book III of the untitled work by Herodotus. The central methodological postulate of this study is that the Debate must be approached as one approaches the other stories in the work: the reader has to reflect on the arguments made here in light of the dramatic context in which they are made. In particular, the author suggests that the Debate is essentially a story about democracy since the discussion takes place within the framework of what are clearly democratic institutions: there is a sort of assembly where resolutions are debated and decision are taken by majority vote. The drama surrounding the Debate thus conveys to us Herodotus' own thoughts about the character of democracy.
Political Rule, Prudence and the “Woman Question” in Aristotle
Authors: Bradshaw Leah
Published: November 2009

Aristotle gives the classical definition of political rule as the kind of rule appropriate for free and equal persons. This concept of political rule is complicated, however, by the fact that, even in what Aristotle calls a free and equal association, the ruler is separated from the ruled by his possession of the virtue of prudence. This article explores the relation between political rule and prudence in Aristotle's writings, and considers particularly the case of political rule between men and women. Though Aristotle characterizes the proper relation between men and women as a free and equal one, he distinguishes the male/female political relation from the more general political relation by saying that men are naturally more fit to rule than women. We are interested in whether Aristotle excludes women from political rule because he thinks that women lack the potential for the virtue of prudence.
Palestine and the Arab State System: Permeability, State Consolidation and theIntifada
Authors: Brynen Rex
Published: November 2009

This article examines the sensitivity of Arab states to the political and ideological repercussions of the Palestine issue by focussing upon Egypt, Syria and Jordan. It suggests that the policies of Arab regimes towards the Palestine issue have been substantially shaped by historical patterns of state formation, and by the gradual consolidation of the Arab state system. This has served to “harden” the Arab territorial state, creating conditions under which Arab states are increasingly (if only partially) insulated from the transnational effects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Roles and Activities of Business Interest Associations in Canada
Authors: Coleman William D. , Jacek Henry J.
Published: November 2009

This article is devoted to a study of business interest associations in Canada in the light of the basic question: Why do they exist? The purpose is to demonstrate that business interest associations might be profitably considered distinct from other types of pressure groups. When their organization and activities are considered at length, it also becomes clear that these groups have an importance for their members that is not often perceived. These arguments are developed by drawing upon a case study of business associations representing selected sectors of the Canadian food processing industry.
Psychobiological Politics
Authors: Schubert Glendon
Published: November 2009

Strikingly innovative developments in brain science during the past two decades, reflecting advances in a dozen different biological disciplines (such as biochemistry, biophysics, endocrinology, neuropsychology, genetics, and human development) have created a new psychobiology that thus far appears to have had only slight impact upon mainstream political science theory and research. This field analysis examines the implications of psychobiology for the study and practice of politics, from the perspective of the founding father of political behaviouralism. The article discusses the psychobiology of mind in terms of human consciousness and memory and then examines the epigenetic and recursive relationships between brain structure and political perception; between brain lateralization and dynamics, and political thinking and decision-making; and between brain development and political equality, with particular regard to sex, age, health, race, and intelligence.
Class in Itself and Class Against Capital: Karl Marx and His Classifiers
Authors: Andrew Edward
Published: November 2009

This note argues that, widespread opinion to the contrary, Marx did not make a distinction between a class in itself and a class for itself but between a class against capital and a class for itself. Marx's formulation of a “class against capital” exhibits a political dimension lacking in a “class in itself”; political institutions and arrangements are not simply the instrument or the expression of a pre-existing class structure but rather condition or shape the class structure. The implications of the erroneous attribution to the theoretical understanding of class formation as well as practical politics are explored.
Partis et systèmes politiques: interactions et fonctions
Authors: Lavau Georges
Published: November 2009

It is no longer in style to develop typologies of political regimes based on their party systems. Systematic studies today are interested in parties only in terms of their role in the functioning of the political system as a whole. No doubt it is an insoluble problem to determine whether parties and the party system are variables which are independent or dependent in relation to the political system. Besides, without being able to rule out a relationship of interdependence, the two terms display a certain degree of independence and are not in a relationship of co-variance. Thus it is that the political system is shaped to a certain extent by the opposition of the parties to the system, the parties in turn having been conditioned by three other kinds of forces.

The problem of specifying the functions of parties remains a central one, even though there is much confusion in the use of the language of functionalism. It is therefore important to clarify the notion of the functions of political parties. If one defines the political system as a set of processes and mechanisms which bring about the convergence or neutralization of irresistible social pluralisms without exploding the balance of these pluralist forces, then one can distinguish three functional requirements: (1) the legitimation-stabilization function; (2) the tribunician function (integration or neutralization of centrifugal forces); (3) the function of providing governmental alternatives.

Where there is interaction between parties and the political system, one can discern an aspect of non-dependence between the two terms. In the first place, the parties (and not only the anti-system or revolutionary parties) do not develop solely in accordance with their relationship to the political system. Secondly, the system too has a certain degree of self-determination, even when confronted with anti-system parties.
A la recherche d'une méthode d'analyse des partis et des groupes d'intérêt
Authors: Dion Léon
Published: November 2009

After indicating that no rigorous political theory of groups exists, chiefly because interest groups are not genuine groups in the sense of “real collective units,” the author examines the disadvantages and advantages of using the systems analysis approach for the study of political parties and interest groups. Three correctives are suggested to systems theory, as it has been developed by a number of authors and more especially by David Easton, to make it better suited for the analysis of parties and interest groups. First, the environment must be made operational by the introduction, in addition to the political system, of a social system, providing constraints on the analyst comparable to those of the political system itself, and by the identification within both systems of a social and a political dynamic. Second, greater attention must be given to the way in which parties and interest groups, inasmuch as they act as input mechanisms, permit interactions between the social and the political systems. Third, a sharper focus must be put on the way the input function of political systems throws light on the life of groups.
Some Differences in the Political Socialization Patterns of Canadian and American Party Officials: A Preliminary Report
Authors: Kornberg Allan , Smith Joel , Bromley David
Published: November 2009

Cette ´tude porte sur 1257 responsables de partis dans les r´gions m´tropolitaines de Vancouver, Winnipeg, Seattle et Minneapolis. De façon plus particulière, elle compare la relative homog´n´it´ des responsables des partis politiques canadiens et am´ricains en regard de leurs ant´c´dents sociaux et de leur statut actuel. Elle examine les int´rêts s´lectifs de leurs premières exp´riences de socialisation politique dont le type de leur identification partisane, le degr´ de leur conscience et de leur participation politique, ainsi que l'âge approximatif oú se produisent ces phénomènes. Elle ´value l'importance relative et diff´rentielle des divers facteurs de socialisation en ses processus majeurs, ainsi que le rôle que jouent les traits politiques des parents, au moment de la première socialisation politique aussi bien qu'à l'´poque adulte.

A l'examen de ces caract´ristiques sociales, on s'aperçoit qu'aucun de ces groupes de responsables de partis n'est, de façon claire, davantage homogène ou h´t´rogène. Comme les deux groupes se trouvent à sur-repr´senter les couches socio-´conomiques sup´rieures de leur population respective, on peut d´duire que la responsabilit´ de postes sup´rieurs dans les partis commande suffisamment de prestige pour attirer dans la vie politique des gens d'un statut relativement ´lev´.

II y a des diff´rences, selon la ligne nationale, entre le moment où les responsables canadiens et am´ricains ont d´velopp´ une conscience politique et où se sont affirm´es les premières identifications à un parti. Dans les deux cas, le ph´nomène se produit à un âge plus avanc´ chez les Canadiens, qui ont aussi tendance à changer plus fr´quemment de parti que leurs ´quivalents am´ricains. De façon g´n´rate, l'´ducation des Am´ricains fut I'œuvre de parents davantage politis´s, ce qui les marqua davantage que les Canadiens.

On peut conclure qu'il y a, chez les responsables canadiens de partis, tendance à retarder leur identification à un parti, à tenir moins compte des pr´f´rences partisanes de leurs parents ou à avoir tout simplement des parents moins int´ress´s à la politique, que le milieu social canadien est moins politis´ et qu'il s'y trouve moins de continuit´ politique entre les g´n´rations.
Politique consultative et système politique
Authors: Dion Léon
Published: November 2009

Studies on participation concentrate on electoral and partisan phenomena. They fail to deal with participation through advisory bodies. So far, the latter have been considered mainly from a legalist or administrative viewpoint, or from pseudo-philosophical premises. Such studies are a disappointment to the political scientist because they do not take into account the full political dimension of participation and because they do not use a political system as an analytical framework. Without adopting a rigorous system, the present study in its central section aims at showing how the development of consultative devices has affected the relative position of three major internal components of the political system: legislative assemblies, administrations, and governments. In the concluding section, an attempt has been made to show how consultation, if studied properly, would similarly affect most other levels of the political system. A particular emphasis has been placed on establishing the relationships of consultation as a mechanism of political input with two other such mechanisms: interest groups and, particularly, political parties.
Political Obligation and Political Dissent
Authors: Ake Claude
Published: November 2009

Cet article discute la notion d'obligation politique dans la tradition démocratique libérate et examine si la désobéissance civile pourrait y trouver sa justification.

Cette théorie admet le droit de désobeir au gouvernement lorsque celui-ci agit à l'encontre du consensus général, dont la poursuite peut seule commander l'obéissance. L'auteur soutient que les fondements de cette théorie ne font pas que permettre la désobéissance mais qu'ils la postulent.

Si, comme le soutient la théorie démocratique libérate, l'obéissance a un gouvernement juste est une partie intégrante dans la façon de satisfaire à nos obligations « naturelles » envers Dieu et nos concitoyens, alors cette obéissance n'est pas un droit mais un devoir. Pareillement et inversement, ce n'est pas le droit mais le devoir que nous avons de désobéir à un gouvernement injuste, c'est-à-dire à celui qui nous contraint à des actes qui violent nos obligations naturelles.

De fait, cette distinction entre le notion de droit et celle d'obligation de désobéir a une importance théorique et pratique. Quand nous disons que Y « doit faire » telle chose, nous assumons que faire cette chose est impérieux et désirable et si Y ne la fait pas, il encourt le blâme. Mais quand nous disons que Y a le « droit de faire » une chose, nous exprimons en fait l'opinion que Y a le choix de la faire ou non et s'il ne la fait pas, nous ne l'en blâmons pas. Le droit habilite; le devoir oblige.

Notre attitude à l'égard du nazisme illustre bien la portée pratique de cette distinction. En dénonçant et punissant les collaborateurs nazis, nous affirmons que les sujets doivent désobéir au gouvernement injuste et qu'ils ont des obligations qu'il faut respecter même contre l'Etat. Nous n'aurions pas pu condamner les collaborateurs nazis si nous avions considéré qu'ils ont seulement été incapables d'exercer leur droit de résistance.
A Comment on Professor Macpherson's Interpretation of Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom
Authors: Crowley Ronald W.
Published: November 2009

C. B. Macpherson a qualifié d' « Epitaphe au libéralisme » l'ouvrage de Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom. Il rejette l'apologie du marché, faite par Friedman, en allégant que la liberté du marché n'a rien à voir avec la liberté individuelle, que la liberté politique ne postule pas le capitalisme et que la thèse de Friedman sur la valeur éthique du capitalisme n'est pas fondée. Le présent article examine les faiblesses de l'analyse du professeur Macpherson.

Celui-ci conteste que la position de Friedman soit basée sur les postulats de la théorie microéconomique. L'incapacité ou le refus de Macpherson d'admettre ces postulats constitue l'une des principales raisons pour lesquelles il rejette l'argumentation de Friedman. Or, les points essentiels de cette argumentation reposent précisement sur de telles hypothèses, relatives à la perfection des marchés et à la distribution de la richesse. Sitôt que ces hypothèses sont infirmées, alors apparaissent, ainsi que le reconnait Friedman, des raisons d'affirmer le rôle de l'Etat, prenant pour acquis qu'on peut prouver que ce dernier est plus à même que les individus de prendre les décisions appropriées aux circonstances.

Macpherson n'ayant pas centré sa critique sur le degré avec lequel les mécanismes capitalistes, dont la distribution de la richesse, influencent la capacité de décision des individus, il n'a pas louché sauf à la périphérie, les aspects les plus vulnérables de la position de Friedman; plutôt, il a développé des idées connexes, axées sur diverses interprétations de termes et d'affirmations empiriques erronées. Macpherson n'a pas discuté des assises de la pensée de Friedman et sa critique porte à faux: Friedman parlait de critères d'efficacité, Macpherson lui a opposé des considérations d'ordre éthique.
A Note on the Theory of Nationalism as a Function of Ethnic Demands
Authors: Lightbody James
Published: November 2009

Les études traditionnelles du nationalisme l'ont considéré comme un processus historique, mettant l'accent sur les activités politiques reliées à la montée ou au déclin des divers mouvements nationalistes ou tâchant d'évaluer les théories mises de l'avant pour justifier le support de comportements nationalistes ou irrédentistes.

L'auteur estime qu'il serait plus à propos de considérer le nationalisme comme un phénomène exprimant les aspirations nationales et qu'il variera en intensité suivant les milieux institutionnels, psychologiques et politico-économiques qui en constituent les coordonnées. En considérant le nationalisme comme un mode de comportement normal chez un groupe ethnique, il devient possible d'en dégager un cadre d'analyse comparative. La viabilité de toute communauté nationale, comme entité autonome, est directement reliée à sa capacité de commander les allégeances de ses membres en tant que participants de la même ethnie.

D'une certaine façon, on peut dire que tous les groupes ethniques, même ceux dont la situation est majoritaire dans un ensemble politique, y font valoir des aspirations ethniques. C'est seulement lorsqu'une minorité perçoit le régime comme incapable de satisfaire à ses aspirations les plus fondamentales que le désir d'institutions séparées caractérise son comportement nationaliste.

Pour faire de cette conception un instrument de travail, il faut pouvoir établir la propension du groupe au ralliement national ou, en d'autres mots, il faut préciser le support social potentiel des demandes faites à l'appareil de décision du régime. Un schéma systémique peut être construit pour nous permettre d'établir avec quelque certitude les niveaux institutionnels où une réponse doit être apportée à un problème si l'on veut que le régime s'adapte aux diverses pressions que lui font subir les groupes ethniques. On voit que, au delà d'un certain point, les solutions qui n'impliquent pas de changement institutionnel sont incapables de satisfaire les aspirations des groupes ethniques.
Maldistribution in Western Provincial Legislatures: The Case of Alberta
Authors: Long John Anthony
Published: November 2009

L'article examine les lacunes de la carte électorale provinciale en Alberta. Dans une première partie, l'auteur discute de la nouvelle carte électorale, adoptée par l'Assemblée législative au cours de la session de 1969, et la controverse qu'elle a soulevée. Cette carte, qui change le rapport du nombre de sièges attribués aux centres urbains et ruraux, traduit l'effort du gouvernement créditiste de donner suite au désir des districts urbains de la province d'accéder à une représentation égalitaire à l'assemblée, tout en maintenant par ailleurs la surreprésentation rurale. La deuxième partie de l'article explore les effets théoriques de la mauvaise distribution électorale sur l'égalité politique: elle désavantage injustement non seulement les électeurs urbains mais aussi les partis dont ils constituent la clientèle. Dans une troisième partie, l'auteur établit un indice de mauvaise distribution, à partir de la carte en vigueur lors des élections provinciales de 1967. Cet indice, qui mesure la qualité de la distribution des sièges d'un district législatif entre les diverses formations électorales, a été proposé par Henry F. Kaiser, sur le principe « un homme, un vote ». Cette distribution de la carte électorale provinciale de l'Alberta est comparée avec celle de la carte fédérale, de meilleure qualité, pour la même province. L'article se termine par la proposition de « critères de tolérance » auxquels devrait se conformer, dans l'avenir, la carte électorale provinciale albertaine afin de répondre aux exigences d'une bonne distribution, telles qu'établies par Kaiser.
La composition des préférences partisanes
Authors: Lemieux Vincent
Published: November 2009

Duncan Black has proposed a theory of political choices in which the individual ordering of preferences and voting procedures in committees are the basic elements. This paper shows that the theory must also take into account certain “objective” orders of preferences which affect individual rankings. To this end, the author analyses the results of a pre-1968 election poll in the federal ridings of Langelier and Louis-Hébert. All the respondents do not rank the four parties (Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New Democratic Party, and Social Credit Rally) in the same order; this can be explained in terms of the complexity of political issues, party strategies, or certain social characteristics of the respondents. The ranking by a majority of the respondents seemed related to two sets of criteria. The first, the sociopolitical, corresponds roughly to a left-right axis, on which the parties are aligned as follows: NDP–Liberals–Progressive Conservatives–Créditistes; the second is an ethnic criterion, according to which the parties take this order: Créditistes–Liberals–Progressive Conservatives–NDP.

Among the other insights provided by the analysis, two are particularly important: the strong rejection of the Social Credit Rally by those who do not place it first, and the indifference towards the other parties by those who do.
The Role of Political Parties in Promoting the Interests of Ethnic Minorities
Authors: Leslie Peter M.
Published: November 2009

Au sujet du rôle des partis politiques, comme promoteurs des intérêts des minorités ethniques, on a surtout insisté sur leur contribution en matière d'abolition des barrières ethniques à la mobilité sociale. Une telle limitation convient mal à la situation canadienne. Plusieurs Canadiens de langue française désirent l'assimilation entendue selon un certain sens (intégration socio-politique structurelle), alors qu'ils veulent l'éviter si elle est entendue autrement (assimilation culturelle). Le présent article distingue ces deux acceptions du concept d'assimilation et examine si les partis peuvent accélérer l'assimilation (intégration serait un terme mieux approprié, en français) structurelle d'une minorité ethnique à la vie et aux institutions de la société dominante, tout en protégeant cette minorité de l'assimilation (au sens strict) à la culture de cette même société.

L'auteur suggère que le gouvernement peut servir les intérêts d'une minorité ethnique de quatre façons différentes; il s'interroge alors sur les relations qui peuvent exister, à cet égard, entre les activités du parti et les quatre modes d'action gouvernementale préalablement retenus. Il conclut que le support massif d'un seul parti, par une minorité, peut favoriser son intégration structurelle mais semblerait un instrument inefficace de lutte à l'assimilation culturelle.
The “New Biology” and the Causes of War
Authors: Colton Timothy
Published: November 2009

La « nouvelle biologie » est un amalgame de faits et d'interprétations glanés auprès des sciences naturelles et les sciences sociales et tendant à donner une nouvelle explication des causes de la guerre. Tout comme les théoriciens qui les ont précédés, K. Lorenz et R. Ardrey, principaux représentants de cette école, situent la racine de la guerre dans une agressivité intrinsèque à la nature humaine. L'homme, selon eux, aurait, comme la plupart des vertébrés, un besoin inné de combattre les membres de sa propre espèce, et la violence Internationale n'en serait que la transposition en termes plus spectaculaires et plus complexes.

Cette interpétation soulève la critique sur de nombreux points : (1) l'existence de l'agression comme instinct autonome et de pure projection reste à prouver; (2) l'agression individuelle n'est pas analytiquement reliée à l'agression collective; (3) le rôle de l'idéologie comme cause à la guerre est passé sous silence; (4) la distinction n'est pas faite entre l'agression offensive et l'agression préventive.

Malgré ses déficiences, ce schéma interprétatif présente un intérêt analytique en faisant la lumière sur certains aspects internes de la ténacité défensive et du nationalisme militant, phénomènes dont la compréhension pourrait étre accrue par l'emploi d'un vaste cadre d'interprétation utilisant à la fois le territoire et l'idéologie. La « biologie nouvelle » peut également être utile aux hommes d'état : ainsi les diplomates qui assumeraient l'existence de cette agressivité humaine pourraient la considérer comme une barrière à la solution des conflits et au triomphe de la paix. Tel est du moins l'avis de Lorenz et Ardrey. Cependant les hommes d'état pourraient voir cette agressivité, sous un autre éclairage, comme motivant un effort accru pour dénouer des situations conflictuelles et structurer un environnement qui rendrait la violence internationale moins probable et moins nocive.
Work and Freedom in Marcuse and Marx
Authors: Andrew Edward
Published: November 2009

L'article examine le système de pensée que Marcuse appelle la « rationalité technologique ». Ce système assigne, comme fin à l'histoire, la domination de la nature par la maîtrise de ses forces, dans le monde extérieur comme dans la conscience humaine. D'après les tenants de ce système, les projets historiques alternatifs sont une perte de temps et d'efforts que les hommes rationnels doivent repousser.

Marx n'a pas été un adepte de cette théorie, quoique certains éléments de sa pensée, adoptés par les Bolsheviks et Marcuse, y correspondent. Marx n'était pas d'accord avec l'idée défendue par Marcuse que le travail est le legs de la dépendance des hommes à l'endroit de la nature: d'après lui, le travail n'est pas seulement une conséquence fatale des exigences de la subsistance, mais aussi un besoin fondamental qui permet à l'homme de réaliser ses capacités par la production. Le « travail libre » n'y est donc pas une contradiction dans les termes comme chez Marcuse; c'est une possibilité dans la réalité et c'est une possibilité que la révolution socialiste pourrait réaliser.

L'idée que le travail est mécanique et oppressif par nature a conduit Marcuse à reviser la théorie marxienne de façon substantielle. Il refuse l'interprétation matérialiste voulant que la modification des moyens et des rapports de production soient à la source des changements sociaux. Il ne croit pas que le contrôle du processus de la production par les travailleurs soient la base de leur émancipation: une production nécessaire est forcément répressive, non-libre, et la liberté n'est possible qu'au-delà de la contrainte production. Les changements techniques ne rendent pas le travail moins mécanique et la participation des travailleurs à la formation des politiques industrielles et aux moyens de les réaliser ne libèrent pas le travail. La liberté étant au-delà du processus de production, l'automation est la condition de la libération humaine. Cette automation sera réalisée le plus efficacement au moyen de la planification centrale et de l'orientation des forces productives existentes par une élite incontrôlée. Aussi une révolution dans la conscience des hommes, une révolution culturelle, est-elle nécessaire pour leur faire admettre le règne des technocrates « rationnels »?

Marx n'était pas un adepte de la « rationalité technologique » parce que sa théorie tâchait d'abord de délimiter les conditions de la liberté et du développement de l'homme au sein du processus de la production, et non pas de le libérer de la servitude naturelle du travail. C'est dans l'adoption de la « rationalité technologique » qu'il faut voir, chez Marcuse, la source de son rejet du matérialisme marxien, sa justification de l'exploitation maximale des forces de l'homme et de la nature pour fins d'automation et ses tendances anti-démocratiques.
Dieu – à droite ou à gauche?
Authors: Laponce J. A.
Published: November 2009

In his study of the spatial symbolism of primitive societies, Robert Hertz noted that the left was the side associated with weakness and evil, the right being on the contrary linked to purity, strength, and religion. The works of I. Wile and V. Fritsch, among others, have confirmed this privileged – though not universal – association of right with the positive side of the dichotomies which together with left-right form symbolic constellations used to interpret the social as well as the physical environment.

These studies – based on the comparison of religious rituals, social customs, and languages – have not considered or considered only incidentally the use made of the left-right classification for the ordering of one's political landscape. This article is a partial attempt to do so from the answers of American, French, French-Canadian, and English-Canadian respondents to a questionnaire administered in 1967–8. The respondents were asked to locate selected religious and profane concepts in an extreme left to extreme right visual scale.

The hypothesis that the students interviewed, like the primitives studied by Hertz, would see religion on the right was verified for the concepts God, religion, and clergyman but not for Jesus Christ which tended to be located on the left. The deviance of Jesus Christ, rather than taken as ground for rejecting the hypothesis, is explained by the non-religious, the man-like rather than God-like qualities associated with that concept.
Values and the Methodology of Political Science
Authors: Greene Thomas H.
Published: November 2009

Toutes les sciences sociales et particulièrement la science politique ont pour objet l'étude de phénomènes qui mettent en cause les valeurs conscientes ou inconscientes du chercheur. Le rôle primordial des valeurs en matière de recherche et d'analyse a conduit certains à penser qu'une science politique libre de valeurs implique line philo-sophie nihiliste et entraîne une propension à des structures politiques autoritaires. D'autres croient que les valeurs biaisent nos perceptions et nos jugements scientifiques à portée sociale.

Ce genre de critique se méprend sur la nature de la recherche scientifique de l'objet social; elle ne peut fournir d'hypothèse vérifiable dans le cadre de la théorie déductive. Certes, toute théorie est déductive et il importe de distinguer les déductions empiriques pertinentes du processus de déduction lui-même, lequel peut être vérifié par référence au critère de la pure cohérence logique.

Les théoriciens des techniques du contrôle des valeurs proposent les méthodes suivantes: (1) l'explicitation préalable des valeurs du chercheur; (2) l'admission des observations réapparaissant au cours d'une recherche ultérieure; (3) limitation de la recherche à l'aspect instrumental, dans un système d'hypothèses proposant des moyens orientés a une fin; (4) neutralisation des valeurs du chercheur par son immersion dans les problèmes de la recherche, via l'observation participée.

Aucune de ces techniques n'est satisfaisante en pure logique, ainsi que le fait voir l'examen de lews implications théoriques et de leur application pratique aux problèmes de la recherche. Ces techniques laissent en outre deviner que le problème du contrôle des valeurs a plus été posé en rapport avec les circonstances de leur découverte qu'avec de celles de leur justification.

Actuellement, nous contrôlons les valeurs dans la mesure où nos déductions sont vérifiables en regard de phénomènes empiriques. Toutefois, la complexité des phénomènes étudiés par les sciences sociales conduit fréquemment à une théorisation qui n'est pas susceptible de vérification immédiate par l'utilisation de variables décelables (structures, comportements, etc.). L'article propose divers types de déductions empiriques pertinentes d'après les catégories de Merton (théories globales, de portée moyenne, ou spécifiques).
A Reply to J. A. A. Lovink, “On Analysing the Impact of the Electoral System on the Party System in Canada”
Authors: Cairns Alan C.
Published: November 2009

Analysis of the Canadian political system has suffered from a relative paucity of competing interpretations of the same phenomena. Too many interpretations of our polity have gone unchallenged, probably on the assumption that our scarce academic resources should not be wasted on internecine controversy while virgin fields remain untapped. Professor Lovink's article is a hopeful indication that this stage of disciplinary immaturity is ending. His sophisticated dissection of my previous article is a helpful contribution to the discussion of the effects of the electoral system on the party system. These comments, by concentrating on some of the problems raised by Lovink, are designed to contribute to a further clarification.

Initially, it can be noted, that the disagreement between us is not over the data dealing with votes and seats, but with the interpretation to be given the data. It was perhaps in the very nature of a somewhat polemical article attacking the “conventional wisdom” that I stressed the effects as I saw, or deduced, them, and in the nature of Lovink's rejoinder that the possible effects are minimized.

This difference is noteworthy in our respective treatment of the electoral system's systematic bias against Conservative Quebec voters. The data indicate that the ratio of 5.6 Liberals to 1 Conservative mp resulted from a ratio of 1.9 Liberals to 1 Conservative voter. This struck me as pregnant with consequences for the party system, some of which I tried to suggest.