Showing papers in "Canadian Journal of Political Science in 1987"
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between the previous political experiences of immigrants and their subsequent involvement in Canadian politics and found that immigrants will have difficulty transferring or making relevant past political experiences; and only those (that is, the British) whose system resembles the new one (Canadian) can accomplish transference.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between the previous political experiences of immigrants and their subsequent involvement in Canadian politics. A 1983 Toronto-area survey of immigrants of various ethnic origins (British, West Indian, Southern and Eastern European) who had been in Canada for five years or less serves as the study's data base. Two hypotheses derived from the relevant literature are investigated: immigrants will have difficulty “transferring” or making relevant past political experiences; and only those (that is, the British) whose system resembles the new one (Canadian) can accomplish transference. However, a more optimistic perspective is proposed suggesting the likelihood of transference regardless of the system of origin. Test results support this latter view.
84 citations
TL;DR: The authors assesses the impact of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the Canadian political system and finds that the Charter is inducing significant and permanent changes in the conduct of Canadian politics.
Abstract: This article assesses the impact of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the Canadian political system. Unlike some commentators who have minimized the effect of the Charter, the author finds that the Charter is inducing significant and permanent changes in the conduct of Canadian politics. Canadian judges have shed their pre-Charter style of deference and self-restraint, and are playing a bolder and more influential role in the governing process. Charter decisions are remolding the Canadian criminal law process along the lines of the “due process” model and away from the “crime control” model of the pre-Charter era. The Charter has also begun to change the way the Canadian political system operates. Interest groups have responded by making greater use of Charter constitutional litigation as a tactic to pursue policy objectives. Law-making areas once solely the prerogative of provincial governments are now being threatened with uniform national standards laid down by the Supreme Court in the course of Charter decisions. Political executives are using the reference procedure to pass Charter issues on to the courts in order to avoid dealing with political “hot potatoes” such as abortion and minority language education. In sum, the predicted “judicialization of politics” is well under way.
50 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the Hartz-Horowitz interpretation of conservatism, liberalism, and socialism in Canada is best understood as a form of neo-Marxism, and that its basic weaknesses are most easily seen by examining its treatment of French Canada.
Abstract: Twenty years’ debate have revealed many weaknesses in the Hartz-Horowitz interpretation of conservatism, liberalism, and socialism in Canada, but it continues to be widely taught, for it provides a simple and appealing explanation for some striking differences between Canadian and American politics. This article argues that the interpretation is best understood as a form of neo-Marxism, that its basic weaknesses are most easily seen by examining its treatment of French Canada, and that its explanation for the exceptional strength of socialism in English Canada, linking socialism to toryism, can be strengthened by linking both socialism and toryism to nationalism.
43 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the ideological origins of Canadian federal state may be traced to the debate that divided eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain, America and France, a debate between the defenders of classical republican values and the proponents of a rising commercial ideology formulated during the Enlightenment.
Abstract: This article discusses the ideological origins of Canadian Confederation. As such it directly challenges a belief commonly held by Canadian political scientists and historians that Canadian Confederation was the product of a purely pragmatic exercise. The author argues instead that the ideological origins of the Canadian federal state may be traced to the debate that divided eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain, America and France—a debate between the defenders of classical republican values and the proponents of a rising commercial ideology formulated during the Enlightenment. Only by understanding how this debate unfolded in nineteenth-century Canada can we understand the particular configuration of the Canadian state that emerged triumphant in the 1860s. Furthermore, an understanding of this debate also offers political scientists a broader context for interpreting long-held Canadian attitudes toward authority, the uses of political patronage, the public debt, capitalism, and the state and economic development.
29 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that the major attitudinal determinants of voting were strongly related to one another and to the direction of vote whereas sociodemographic characteristics were only weakly related to political attitudes and behaviour.
Abstract: Recent research on voting in United States presidential elections has begun to disentangle long-term and short-term components of electoral choice. This has been achieved through the use of complex models involving instrumental variables and two-stage or three-stage least squares regression. These techniques are particularly appropriate to understanding the voting decision in Canada because of the short-term variability of partisan identifications. Modelling voting choice, using simultaneous equations and data from the 1979 Canadian National Election Study, it was found that the major attitudinal determinants of voting—party identification and attitudes towards issues and party leaders—were strongly related to one another and to the direction of vote whereas sociodemographic characteristics were only weakly related to political attitudes and behaviour. In addition, the strength of these variables may vary across the major parties in any given election.
20 citations
TL;DR: The Social Sciences Citation Index was canvassed for citations of all articles, notes, review articles, comments and replies published in volumes 1-10 of the Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Social Sciences Citation Index was canvassed for citations of all articles, notes, review articles, comments and replies published in volumes 1–10 of the Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique . The data show that nearly three-quarters of the 335 items published between 1968 and 1977 were cited at least once, with a greater likelihood of the citation appearing in non-Canadian than in Canadian publications. English-language items were cited four times as frequently as French-language ones, on the average, and those with at least some Canadian content were cited nearly twice as frequently, on the average, as those with no Canadian content.
18 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined changes in individuals' identification with Canadian federal political parties in the period 1977 to 1981 and found that differences in class and ideology have a significant, if not very large effect on shifts in partisan identity.
Abstract: This article examines changes in individuals' identification with Canadian federal political parties in the period 1977 to 1981 The analysis suggests that differences in class and ideology have a significant, if not very large effect on shifts in partisan identity There was a slight bias toward more upper-class identification with the Progressive Conservative party and more lower-class identification with the Liberal party Unstable partisans were at least as ideologically constrained as stable partisans, and partisan instability was more pronounced amongst the more left-wing individuals Changes in partisanship were more likely among younger respondents, particularly lower-class and more left-wing youth The largest bloc of unstable partisans was closest ideologically to the more left-wing stable New Democratic party partisans, and shifted only between the New Democratic and Liberal parties A smaller bloc moved to the Progressive Conservative party and was ideologically closest to its more right-wing stable partisans
18 citations
TL;DR: The work of Black and McGlen, showing a decrease in the traditional participation differences between Canadian men and women, is replicated over an expanded series of six national election studies as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This note addresses questions relating to the level of women's political activity and specific obstacles that restrict it. The work of Black and McGlen, showing a decrease in the traditional participation differences between Canadian men and women, is replicated over an expanded series of six national election studies. The results challenge the suggestion that there has been a decline in difference over time, and there is an attempt to account for this lingering distinction between the genders. Data are presented which indicate that the presence of children in the home has a much more constraining impact upon women's political activity than upon that of men.
14 citations
TL;DR: Montesquieu may be a better guide to understanding the nature of the Canadian state, past and present, than Hobbes or Locke of any of the other political philosophers of the past as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Montesquieu may be a better guide to understanding the nature of the Canadian state, past and present, than Hobbes or Locke of any of the other political philosophers of the past. This article argues that Montesquieu's doctrine has two major components–a discussion of the mixed constitution, blending monarchical, aristocratic and democratic features, and the separation of powers that distinguishes among executive, legislative and judicial. Each of these components can be used to illuminate the operation of state power at the central level in this country, the first the long period between 1867 and the Second World War, the second the post-Second World War period, and more especially the situation that has arisen with the passage of the Constitution Act, 1982.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the issue of moral dimensions of the state and its statecraft is the focus of the article, which is premised on two questions: how do we secure moral responsibility and what can be done to enhance the sense of mission, dedication and service which used to be the hallmarks of the public service?
Abstract: The issue of moral dimensions of the state and its statecraft is the focus of this article. The issue is premised on two questions: how do we secure moral responsibility of the state and its functionaries; and what can be done to enhance the sense of mission, dedication and service which used to be the hallmarks of the public service? The concept of “administrative theology” is suggested as a possible answer in our search for a moral government and statecraft. Particular emphasis is placed on the concept of service and the doctrine of vocation. The author concludes by pleading the case of administrative theology as a possible source for a moral government and its statecraft.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the problematic character of externalization theory, which posits that national leaders sometimes engage in foreign conflict in order to restore domestic cohesion, and uncover significant discrepancies between theory and testing.
Abstract: This study will investigate the problematic character of externalization theory, which posits that national leaders sometimes engage in foreign conflict in order to restore domestic cohesion. The first stage is a reassessment of the behavioural literature that, for two decades, has failed to support the theory, despite commonly held expectations to the contrary. Some significant discrepancies between theory and testing are uncovered during the review. These missing elements of externalization subsequently are incorporated in a crisis-oriented model. This model of crisis resolution, based on domestic conflict change as the independent variable and war versus de-escalation as the dependent variable, is tested using International Crisis Behaviour Project data from 1948-1975. The results are encouraging to the theory and suggest the value of further research in the area. Resume. Cette enqubte examine la thborie de l'externalisation, en incluant l'argument contestable que les chefs politiques engageaient autrefois leur pays dans les conflits externes afin de retablir la cohesion chez eux. Malgre les attentes des chercheurs, les r~sultats de la recherche ne soutiennent pas la thiorie depuis 20 ans. La premiire partie de l'article r~vele des discordances importantes entre la theorie et les risultats dans le programme de verification de la recherche. Ensuite, ces 6l1ments manques du processus d'externalisation font partie d'un module de crise. Ce modele de la resolution d'une crise traite du changement au niveaux des conflits internes comme variable ind~pendante de la guerre ou la d~sescalade comme variable dipendante. Le modele est v~rifi6 avec les donn~es de l'International Crisis Behaviour Project, 1948-1975. Les r~sultats indiquent dans quel sens il vaut la peine de poursuivre la recherche en la matiire. Some examples will bring out these points quite readily. In a series of investigations, Wilkenfeld and others found domestic and foreign conflict linkages in the presence of an intervening variable-type of government. For instance, in the case of polyarchic states (Western, industrialized democracies), external belligerence could be traced to the presence of internal warfare.\" Other researchers discovered specific regional connections. Collins, for one, used a sample of 33 independent countries in Africa and events data for the years 1963-1965. He found that violent foreign behaviour could not be explained in terms of prior domestic strife, although anti-foreign unoffical behaviour and complaints about foreign interference in internal affairs could be predicted from the level of domestic disorder. Similarly, Onate examined the conflict behaviour of the People's Republic of China from 1950 to 1970, and his results suggested a minor relationship involving (ed.), Handbook of Political Conflict: Theory and Research (New York: Free Press, 1980), 325. 6 Jonathan Wilkenfeld's highly influential studies include \"Domestic and Foreign Conflict Behavior of Nations,\" Journal of Peace Research 5 (1968), 55-69; \"Some Further Findings Regarding the Domestic and Foreign Conflict of Nations,\" Journal of Peace Research 7 (1969), 147-56; Dina Zinnes and Jonathan Wilkenfeld, \"An Analysis of Foreign Conflict Behavior of Nations,\" in Wolfram Hanrieder (ed.), Comparative Foreign Policy: Theoretical Essays (New York: David McKay, 1971); Jonathan Wilkenfeld, \"Models for the Analysis of Foreign Conflict Behavior of States,\" in Bruce M. Russett (ed.), Peace, War and Numbers (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1972); and Wilkenfeld and Zinnes, \"A Linkage Model of Domestic Conflict Behavior,\" in Wilkenfeld (ed.), Conflict Behavior and Linkage Politics (New York: David McKay, 1973).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the motives behind policy-making at the municipal level and argue that local governments are guided in the formulation of their policies by a need to reconcile fiscal and electoral considerations.
Abstract: This article investigates the motives behind policy-making at the municipal level. More specifically, it argues that local governments are guided in the formulation of their policies by a need to reconcile fiscal and electoral considerations. On the one hand, by focussing on urban renewal initiatives it shows that an important proportion of municipal policies are primarily devoted to the maintenance or the bolstering of the taxation base. On the other hand, a description of the different guises taken by urban renewal over a 20-year period highlights the influence electoral circumstances have on the configuration of renewal strategies. Urban renewal efforts undertaken by Quebec City's municipal administration provides the case study for this article. It identifies the impetus for launching these efforts and identifies the economic and electoral factors that produced a transition from a form of urban renewal involving a redevelopment of the core area, to one assuring the preservation of the built environment of central neighbourhoods. Resume. Cet article porte sur les motifs qui sous-tendent la formulation de politiques au niveau local. Plus prdcisement, il y est ddmontr6 que les administrations municipales sont guiddes ~ cet egard par des considirations d'ordre fiscal et electoral. D'une part, il ressort d'une analyse de programmes de renovation urbaine qu'une large part des politiques municipales ont d'abord comme but de maintenir ou d'augmenter l'6valuation fonciire. D'autre part, une description des diffdrentes formes prises par la renovation urbaine au cours d'une periode de 20 ans souligne l'influence majeure des conjonctures 6lectorales sur la configuration de ce type d'intervention municipale. Les efforts de renovation urbaine entrepris par la Ville de Quebec entre 1965 et 1985 servent d'6tude de cas. Sont identifides les raisons qui ont suscit6 une telle entreprise de la part de cette administration municipale. L'attention est aussi dirigde vers les facteurs c D. Gordon, "Capitalism and the Roots of Urban Crisis," in R. E. Alcaly and D. Mermelstein (eds.), The Fiscal Crisis ofAmerican Cities (New York: Vintage Books, 1977), 109-12; S. A. MacManus, Revenue Pattern in the United States Cities and Suburbs: A Comparative Analysis (New York: Praeger, 1979), 55, 99-100; G. Sternlieb and J. W. Hughes, "Metropolitan Decline and Inter-regional Job Shifts," in Alcaly and Mermelstein (eds.), The Fiscal Crisis of American Cities, 145-64. In general, the exodus of middle and high-income residents has not been felt in Canadian central cities to the same degree. See, for example, M. A. Goldberg and J. Mercer, "Canadian and U.S. Cities: Basic Differences, Possible Explanations and their Meaning for Public Policy," Papers of the Regional Science Association 45 (1980), 159-83. Yet Quebec City has been affected to a greater extent than most Canadian central cities by such an outward flow, especially, as we shall see, in its central area. 4 W. K. Tabb and L. Sawers, "Introduction," in W. K. Tabb and L. Sawers (eds.), Marxism and the City: New Perspectives in Urban Political Economy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 3-19. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.129 on Thu, 28 Jul 2016 06:04:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
TL;DR: Resnick as discussed by the authors argues that Canada is characterized by the separation of powers in the sense that it is a mixture of monarchic, aristocratic and democratic institutions, and he argues that this influence shows in such typical features of our political culture as acceptance of hierarchical patterns, deference to authority and so on; these are reflections of the "disdain for democratic excesses" inherent in the mixed constitution.
Abstract: Philip Resnick argues that Montesquieu is seminal for an understanding of Canadian institutions.' We find in nineteenth-century Canada, he says, not Montesquieu's separation of powers doctrine, so influential in the United States, but his teaching about the mixed constitution, that is, government by a combination of monarchic, aristocratic and democratic institutions. He argues that this influence shows in such typical features of our political culture as acceptance of hierarchical patterns, deference to authority and so on; these are reflections of the "disdain for democratic excesses" inherent in the mixed constitution. He then goes on to suggest that we have grown out of the mixed constitution in the twentieth century, but that as a result of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms relations between the political and judicial powers in Canada have so come to resemble the American that we are justified in saying that Canada in this one respect is now characterized by the separation of powers. We have moved from the Montesquieu of the mixed constitution to the Montesquieu of the separation of powers. The suggestion that we look to Montesquieu is very welcome. What Canada got in 1867 was surely a version of the mixed constitution, King Lords and Commons. As I argued in "Modern Mixed Government: A Liberal Defence of Inequality" in this JOURNAL, Lord Durham for one was a proponent of the mixed regime.2 And while Professor Resnick is correct to argue that Montesquieu's influence in English Canada was indirect, he could have noted that French Canadians like Etienne Parent, and Pierre B6dard, the first leader of the Canadian party, read and cited Montesquieu along with Blackstone, Burke and other British constitutionalists. Nevertheless I suggest that we have to go to the British version of Montesquieu's thesis, especially Blackstone, rather than Montesquieu himself, if we are to see the full significance of his ideas for Canada. Both
TL;DR: The authors suggests that the current crisis is characterized by postmaterialist persistence and structural contradictions under the conditions of economic constraint, and suggests a regime of economic dualism and/or corporatism as the most likely outcome.
Abstract: A general perception of crisis at the end of the postwar period of growth has spawned two types of theoretical response: while a conservative theory of overload focusses on ungovernability caused by postmaterialist value change, radical analysis points to the structural contradictions of the welfare and intervention state. This article suggests that the current crisis is characterized by postmaterialist persistence and structural contradictions under the conditions of economic constraint. It examines polarization and potential mobilization of fragmented postindustrial societies in the context of neo-conservative politics, and it suggests a regime of economic dualism and/or corporatism as the most likely outcome.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors elaborate a theory of supply of government intervention which predicts the characteristics of interventions that increase the number of votes as well as the characteristic of actions that lead to vote losses.
Abstract: Investigations with respect to proposals for government intervention generally deal with values, ideologies or strategies of party leaders. Theoretical studies predict that, in an environment where information is imperfect and costly, politicians have incentives to formulate interventions, the benefits of which are concentrated while their costs are diffused. The authors elaborate a theory of supply of government intervention which predicts the characteristics of interventions that increase the number of votes as well as the characteristics of actions that lead to vote losses. The predictions of this theory are tested by using the proposals for government intervention in the official programmes of the political parties of Quebec during the 1960–1981 period. The two basic findings are that (1) the prediction relative to the anti-consumer and anti-taxpayer bias of the political market is not supported by the facts, and that (2) the party leaders prefer to finance the cost of their proposals of government intervention through the mode of fiscal illusion instead of hoping for inattention on the part of consumers and taxpayers.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the predominant view of Marx's communist society is a form of Utopia in which there is complete social harmony, with no private space for individuals, no conflicts, and no politics.
Abstract: The predominant view of Marx's communist society is that it is a form of Utopia in which there is complete social harmony, with no private space for individuals, no conflicts, and no politics. The author argues that this “orthodox” view is a misreading of Marx's works, especially of certain key early works. According to his interpretation, in Marx's communist society there is private space, private/particular interests, controversy, politics, and rights. The author discusses the major theoretical/ methodological errors of the “orthodox” interpretation, such as interpreting key statements by Marx at the wrong level of generality.
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical framework based on Duverger and Epstein is proposed to examine the mass party and compare it to the cadre party, and the Parti Quebecois fits its criteria.
Abstract: With a theoretical framework based on Duverger and Epstein we examine the mass party and compare it to the cadre party. The Parti Quebecois fits its criteria. In 1977 it imposed its fund-raising methodology on other Quebec parties by barring donations from moral persons. Only Quebec electors may now donate anything. Only the Quebec Liberal party has adapted. The hypothesis is that a loss in popularity leads to a loss of membership and a financial crisis. This may lead to a crise de conscience and a split in membership, leading to disintegration and defeat. Such a crisis shook the PQ from 1981 to 1985 and the defeat of December 2, 1985, was an inevitable consequence.
TL;DR: The authors assesses the contribution of five of the research studies done for the Macdonald Royal Commission and of the opening chapter of the Commission Report to our understanding of the state and concludes that, despite individual contributions of note, there are real limitations to what this Commission and its research associates tell us about the state.
Abstract: This study assesses the contribution of five of the research studies done for the Macdonald Royal Commission and of the opening chapter of the Commission Report to our understanding of the state. It examines the use of the term state, the economic and social functions that the latter is seen to perform, and the light that these studies may shed on such thorny topics as authority, legitimacy and citizenship in the late twentieth century. It concludes that, despite individual contributions of note, there are real limitations to what this Commission and its research associates tell us about the state. R6sume. Cet article examine ce que cinq des 6tudes commandees par la Commission Macdonald et le premier chapitre du Rapport lui-meme nous enseignent sur la nature de l'Etat. L'auteur discute de la definition de l'Etat, de ses fonctions economiques et sociales, et de la fagon avec laquelle ces etudes abordent les themes de l'autorit6, de la legitimite, et de la citoyennete en cette fin du 20e siecle. L'article conclut que certaines de ces etudes ont une valeur reelle, mais que l'apport global de ces volumes a notre compr6hension de 1' Etat moderne reste fort limit6. arguments regarding the nature of Canadian democracy. Many of the Commission's economics volumes (1-25) are also clearly concerned with the role of the state, though a strongly marketeering approach pervades them. The constitutional/institutional dimensions of state activity loom large in vols. 36-39 and again in many of the Law, Society and Economy volumes (46-51). The question of sovereignty with respect to the international political economy is a focus of vols. 28-30. And no less than 13 volumes (59-71) explore the ramifications of divided sovereignty in a federal state like Canada's. It would be too much for one reviewer to try to make sense of the view of the state that permeates the entire research programme of the Commission. One has here the material for two or three Learned Societies meetings clapped between covers and thrown onto the academic marketplace in one fell swoop. There is a division of labour characterizing these studies, and a far from perfect unity of definition or purpose among the economic, political and legal components. Nor is there anything resembling unity of view among the contributors to many of the individual volumes. Still, if the Canadian state in its wisdom, through two successive governments, sees fit to lavish $20 million on a royal commission with a mandate as free-wheeling as this one, if so many of our academic colleagues are prepared to put pen to paper in a version of state-fostered research without parallel in the annals of this country, we must at least take notice. Not everyone will consider this money well spent, or agree that the University of Toronto Press should have committed itself to publishing the whole of the Commission's research effort, when scholarly manuscripts in various fields go begging for publishers. Nor will the irony of Canadian social scientists undertaking research into the nature and functions of the Canadian state, while funded by that very state, entirely escape certain members of our community. But the volumes are now out, and one should at least attempt some review of their findings. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.246 on Tue, 27 Sep 2016 05:14:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
TL;DR: This article argued that Canada can be best interpreted as constituting a quintessentially Montesquieuan polity, and that the British polity was inspired by the French polity.
Abstract: It is the merit of Professor Resnick's essay1 that it will stimulate intellectual discussion of the underlying principles of the Canadian polity at a deeper level than heretofore. What distinguishes Professor Resnick's article from much previous work on Canada's philosophical heritage is that it is based on a profound knowledge and detailed analysis of the European tradition which Canada inherited. Nonetheless, the study raises issues rather than settles them. It stimulates, it provokes, but it does not convince. One has to wonder what the implications are of being told that Canada "can be best interpreted as constituting a quintessentially Montesquieuan polity." Does Resnick mean more so than can be Britain or the United States? Does he mean that Montesquieu's thought influenced our founding fathers, or that there is some accidental congruence between the thought of Montesquieu and the principles of the Canadian constitution, or merely that Montesquieu best elucidated those principles which are common to the English-speaking nations? Are Resnick's propositions of such a broad nature that everything, or almost everything, is deemed to fit? We should be wary of his assertions until he tells us what aspects of the history of Canadian politics contradict his thesis. No general theory worthy of its salt stands without incompatible elements. The fact that no evidence is adduced which limits the application of the theory should cause us to wonder whether the thesis is so broad as to be almost tautological. Is Resnick ultimately telling us anything more than that such figures as Blackstone and Burke were deeply impressed by the manner in which Montesquieu described-and flattered-the British polity, that it is Montesquieu to whom the fullest form of the modern doctrine of the separation of powers may be attributed? Such, of course, has long been acknowledged. And it is equally well acknowledged that the separation
TL;DR: The Supreme Court's position in federal states, especially in Canada and the United States, is often delicate when it has to settle cases under dispute involving the sharing of powers between the states (or provinces) and the central government as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Supreme Court's position in federal states, especially in Canada and the United States, is often delicate when it has to settle cases under dispute involving the sharing of powers between the states (or provinces) and the central government. For the United States, even if civil rights affect only indirectly these powers, several Supreme Court decisions curtail the autonomy of the states, from which follows a long process of centralization. Nonetheless the Supreme Court is only one actor among others, and a limited one, in this process.