A number of theoretical propositions are advanced through a consideration of the shifting strategies of feminist organizations in Canada during three rounds of constitutional negotiations. First, interest-oriented formulations alone do not capture the intricacies of representation. Representation should be conceived more broadly in terms not just of interest, but also of identity. Second, there are multiple routes to representation that include intersecting forms of representation. Finally, “special interest” designations can be used to undercut the democratic potential of collective mobilization.

This article explores the role of the numbered treaties relative to the continuity of the settler colonial project in Canada. Although the treaties are often invoked to characterize the federal government's commitment toward strengthening or renewing its relationship with Indigenous peoples at a symbolic level, there remains a disjuncture between the “nation-to-nation” depictions of treaties and the complex political relationships that Indigenous peoples have called for since their signing. This article explores the inconsistent ways in which treaties have been taken up within Canadian legal and political institutions, arguing that the incoherency surrounding treaties promulgates the notion that treaties are being implemented while simultaneously obscuring, distorting and minimizing the rights of Indigenous peoples in practice. It demonstrates that the failure to engage with treaties as the locus of Indigenous peoples’ distinct political relationship with the Canadian state functions to continually produce conditions of colonization and dispossession through the denial of Indigenous sovereignty and jurisdiction as affirmed in treaties.

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.

Abstract. Criminal justice policy in the US has long been exceedingly responsive to public opinion. Unfortunately, public attitudes towards justice in the US are severely bifurcated along racial lines, such that Whites see a system that is “colour-blind” and Blacks perceive one that is severely biased against them. In this paper, we explore the magnitude of this racial cleavage and, more importantly, demonstrate how it impacts differential reactions to events (such as accusations of police brutality) and policies (such as capital punishment) in the justice domain. To the degree that elites base policies on (mainly White) majority preferences, such policies are unlikely to be responsive to the racial discrimination that is a part of the current criminal justice environment.

Résumé. La politique pénale aux États-Unis répond énormément à l'opinion publique. Malheureusement, les positions populaires envers la justice américaine sont radicalement divisées suivant l'appartenance raciale. Aux yeux des Blancs, le système est essentiellement neutre envers les groupes raciaux différents, mais les Noirs le perçoivent comme étant fortement entaché de discrimination contre eux. Dans cet article, nous considérons l'étendue de cet écart racial et, surtout, nous démontrons comment ces perceptions entraînent des réactions différentes envers les événements (comme les accusations de brutalité policière) et envers les politiques publiques (comme la peine capitale) dans le domaine de la justice. Dans la mesure où les élites fondent les politiques sur les préférences de la majorité (surtout blanche), il est peu probable que ces politiques puissent remédier à la discrimination raciale qui fait partie du système pénal actuel.

In Canada as elsewhere, representative democracy is under attack by both populists and rights advocates. The populist challenge comes mainly from Preston Manning's wing of the Reform party. The rights-based challenge is grounded on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These two challenges are different in obvious ways, but from the point of view of representative government—and ultimately of liberal democratic constitutionalism—what they have in common outweighs their differences. What they have in common is the appeal to a mystical being or icon beyond ordinary politics. In effect, the People or Rights become what God was to pre-liberal theocratic politics: a transpolitical trump on ordinary political division, a way of placing opponents “beyond the pale,” a demand for unattainable purity in public life and policy. While bills of rights and populism appear to flow, respectively, from the liberalism and the democracy of liberal democracy, they are, in fact, vehicles for precisely the kind of politics liberal democracy was designed to overcome. Representative government, not populism or entrenched rights, was at the heart of the “new science of politics” designed to make liberal democracy possible. Representative institutions, properly arranged in a system of checks and balances, were a way of blending liberalism with democracy, giving each its due, but indirectly, so that neither would be taken to self-destructive extremes. Populism and the judicialized politics of rights threaten to dissolve this salutary blend, at the cost of liberal democratic constitutionalism.

Abstract. Dual loyalty arises when a citizen or group of citizens holds political allegiance to another state or entity which could challenge their loyalty to the state. What defines dual loyalty as an accusation is the assumption that it is impossible to hold multiple political loyalties, but that, simultaneously, this multiplicity is denied any validity. This article explores the concept, locating it historically and locating the false and often racist discourse that characterizes its modern usage and meaning.

Résumé. La double loyauté survient quand un citoyen ou un groupe de citoyens donne son allégeance à un autre État ou à une autre entité, ce qui pourrait mettre en cause sa loyauté envers l'État. Ce qui confère à la double loyauté un caractère d'accusation, c'est la supposition qu'il est impossible d'avoir plusieurs allégeances politiques, et que, simultanément, cette multiplicité d'allégeances n'a aucune validité. Le présent article explore ce concept, en le situant sur le plan historique et en retraçant les discours faux et souvent racistes qui caractérisent son emploi et son sens modernes.

Municipal governments are experts in social non-distancing. From swimming pools to libraries, streetcars to public parks, municipalities bring residents together and move them around—services vital to a vibrant community in ordinary times, but potentially disastrous in a pandemic. Municipal decisions to shutter these services and enforce social distancing are thus crucial for a successful COVID-19 response.

Abstract. This article examines municipal government roles in immigrant settlement, integration and cultural diversity in six of Canada's most diverse cities. Drawing on documentary and interview evidence, the review of corporate initiatives in Vancouver, Abbotsford, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Brampton addresses three areas: the position or profile of these issues on the municipal government agenda; diversity, human rights and anti-racism policies for city institutions and the broader community; and access and equity policies. The inventory provides the data for a proposed local-scale typology that classifies and distinguishes among cities according to the normative premises underlying the official recognition of cultural differences in the public sphere, the types and extent of initiatives and the locus of bureaucratic authority for these issues. The analysis identified distinct approaches at the sub-state level. Toronto was the only city that has fully embraced a multicultural approach recognizing cultural diversity in most or all aspects of its corporate policies and structures and which grants collective rights to members of disadvantaged groups. The intercultural or civic universalist approaches prevailed in most study sites. Just three cities have developed comprehensive and relatively centralized approaches to these issues. The results suggest that sub-state authorities will not necessarily adopt the discourse and policy responses associated with state-level multiculturalism.

Résumé. Cet article examine les approches des gouvernements municipaux dans six municipalités diverses du canada en ce qui concerne l'établissement des immigrants, l'intégration et la diversité culturelle. L'inventaire des initiatives au niveau de l'entreprise à Vancouver, Abbotsford, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto et Brampton s'adressent à trois secteurs : la position ou le profil d'établissement des immigrants, l'intégration/problèmes de diversité dans le programme du gouvernement municipal; la diversité, les droits de l'Homme et les politiques anti- racisme pour les institutions de la ville et la communauté dans son ensemble; et les politiques d'accès et d'équité. L'inventaire forme la base d'une typologie à échelle locale qui est structurée en trois parties : les prémisses normatives fondamentales soulignant la reconnaissance officielle des différences culturelles dans la sphère publique; les types et l'étendue des initiatives et le lieu d'autorité bureaucratique de ces problèmes. L'analyse de preuves documentaires et d'entrevues a identifié des approches distinctes à l'établissement des immigrants, l'intégration et la diversité culturelle. Toronto était la seule ville a approuver entièrement l'approche multiculturelle qui reconnaît la diversité culturelle et tous les aspects de ses politiques et de ses structures d'entreprise, tout en accordant des droits collectifs aux membres de groupes défavorisés. Les approches interculturelles ou universelles ont prévalu dans la plupart de sites d'études. Juste deux villes ont développé des approches complètes et relativement centralisées à ces problèmes. Les résultats suggèrent que les autorités de sous-état n'adopteront pas nécessairement les réponses de discours et politique qui sont associé avec le multiculturalisme d'état-niveau.

Abstract. The transformations in recent patterns of immigration have the potential to reshape the trajectory of Canada's regional political dynamics. Drawing on data from the 1993–2006 Canadian Election Studies, this analysis explores how immigrants adjust to the prevailing regional political norms in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Do newcomers adopt the political orientations (feelings towards Canada and their province, confidence in provincial and federal governments, perceptions about how the province is treated by the federal government and support for the Liberal party) that resemble those of their native-born provincial counterparts? The results suggest that immigrants, especially newer waves from non-traditional source countries, tend to develop orientations that are more federally oriented than the local populations in their province. This tendency is most pronounced in Quebec where both groups of immigrants from traditional and non-traditional source countries internalize political grievances and norms less efficiently than their counterparts in other provinces.

Résumé. Les transformations récentes des tendances migratoires pourraient avoir un impact sur l'évolution des dynamiques politiques régionales au Canada. Cette enquête s'appuie sur les données de sondage de l'Étude électorale canadienne de 1993 à 2006 et vise à déterminer si les immigrants adoptent les attitudes et les comportements politiques dominants de leur province de résidence (Québec, Ontario, Alberta et Colombie-Britannique). Les immigrants adoptent-ils des attitudes et des comportements politiques (attachement au Canada et à la province de résidence, confiance envers les gouvernements fédéral et provincial, perception du traitement réservé par le gouvernement fédéral à la province de résidence et appui au Parti libéral du Canada) qui ressemblent à ceux des populations locales de leur province? Les résultats de l'enquête suggèrent que les immigrants, surtout ceux d'origines dites non traditionnelles, ont tendance à développer des comportements et des attitudes politiques plus orientés vers le gouvernement fédéral que ceux affichés dans leur province. Cette tendance est particulièrement marquée au Québec où les immigrants, tant d'origines traditionnelles que non traditionnelles, semblent assimiler moins efficacement que les immigrants des autres provinces les griefs et les normes politiques de la population provinciale.

Abstract. The primary lesson to be learned from the failed Charlottetown Accord is that substantive constitutional reform in Canada is not possible, and will not be for some time. This claim is structurally grounded—a reflection of inherent limitations to successful constitutional negotiations. Specifically, it contends that the requirement of mass input/legitimization of constitutional bargaining in deeply divided societies is incompatible with successful constitution making. There are two reasons for this conclusion. First, mass legitimization serves to undermine effective elite accommodation. The degree of compromise necessary to forge a constitutional agreement at the elite level among different societal groups alienates too many mass supporters of each group. As a result, elites cannot deliver the support of their constitutional constituents. Second, constitution making, by virtue of providing certain groups with almost perpetual special privileges, provides an incentive for groups to seek constitutional status. Mass input into the constitutional process lowers the costs associated with seeking constitutional status, thereby facilitating the creation of new constitutional orientations. In this article, a theoretical argument about the incompatibility of consociational constitutionalism and mass input/legitimization is developed. This argument applies to the Canadian context, detailing the prevailing “mega-constitutional” orientations (MCOs) in Canada, emphasizing their inherent irreconcilability. Based on evidence from the Charlottetown referendum campaign, empirical support is provided for the argument developed. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the findings and forecasts failure for constitutional initiatives, in Canada and elsewhere, where consociational constitutionalism occurs in tandem with the requirement of mass input/legitimization.

Résumé. La première leçon à tirer de l'échec de l'Accord de Charlottetown, c'est qu'une réforme constitutionnelle en profondeur n'est pas possible, et ce pour un avenir prévisible. Cette prémisse s'appuie sur des éléments structured, reflétant des limites inhérentes aux négotiations constitutionnelles. Plus précisément, cela présume que l'exigence de légitimation par les masses du marchandage constitutionnel dans des sociétés profondément divisées représente un obstacle majeur pour le succès des négotiations. On invoquera deux motifs pour justifier cette conclusion. D'abord, la légitimation populaire contribue à empêcher les accommodements entre les élites. L'ampleur des compromis nécessaires à l'émergence d'un accord au niveau des élites entre différents groupes sociaux aliène trop de citoyens dans chacun des groupes. Conséquemment, les élites ne peuvent garantir l'appui de leurs mandants. En deuxième lieu, le bricolage constitutionnel, qui procure à certains groupes des privilèges sociaux perpétuels, encourage les groupes à rechercher un statut constitutionnel. La participation des masses au processus diminue les coûts associés à la quête de statut constitutionnel, facilitant ainsi la création de nouvelles orientations constitutionnelles. Cet article propose une argumentation théorique à propos de l'incompatibilité entre le constitutionnalisme consociationnel et la légitimation par la participation populaire. La thèse est appliquée au cas canadien, approfondissant les orientations macro-constitutionnelles dominantes ou pas, et en en faisant ressortir l'irréconciliabilité. En s'appuyant sur l'expérience référendaire d'octobre 1992, l'article étoffe ensuite concrètement l'argumentation. Par-delà le résumé des principaux résultats, la conclusion prédit l'àchec des initiatives constitutionnelles, au Canada et ailleurs, partout où le constitutionnalisme consociationnel sera accompagné par l'exigence d'une légitimation par la participation populaire.

Federalism has remained a contested concept. The constitutional certainties of the modern federal state are under attack from confederal practices of negotiated agreement. Such practices have their traditional roots in the political theories of Althusius and Montesquieu. The central argument of this article is that the American Federalists broke with that older tradition and deliberately misinterpreted Montesquieu along the way. Consequently, the predominant reading of federalism emphasizes federal supremacy over the idea of a social compact among equal partners, territorial representation dominates over the recognition of social community, and the allocation of divided powers is guided by national prerogatives rather than regionally differentiated policy needs. Recent trends towards a more collaborative form of federalism indicate that the old model of constitutional federalism may be replaced by new practices of treaty federalism.

The demise of the Cold War and greater cooperation among the Security Council's permanent members have created a situation frequently characterized as a New World Order at the United Nations. This study examines whether that characterization can also be applied to the politics of the UN General Assembly. Using descriptive analysis of roll-call votes, the authors find that recent sessions, and in particular the 46th session, witnessed the end of a fairly stable decade of voting blocs in the General Assembly. An indicator of vote changing is developed which documents the rapid movement of the former Warsaw Pact members and Baltic states towards more western European positions. Hierarchical cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses are employed to identify the emerging voting alliances. The results suggest that the accommodation has not been as widespread in the General Assembly and that our longstanding conceptualizations of east/west/north/south polarizations are in need of revision.

This article examines the effect of modern media and communications technology on ethnic nationalist resurgence, using the Kurds as a case example. Television, satellite communications, the Internet and easy access to publishing technology now facilitate ethnic nationalist challenges to state hegemony and monopoly of information. Additionally, modern media and communications technology can turn a humiliating defeat into a catalyst for a more unified, stronger, ethnic nationalist movement. Globally broadcast images of such a defeat arouse the passions and indignation of even those people who only nominally identify themselves with the ethnic group in question. At the same time, communications technology such as telephones, faxes and e-mail facilitate the channeling of such indignation into immediate group protest and action which, in turn, strengthens the ethnic identification of action participants.

Despite the overwhelming prevalence of democratic ideals in contemporary political relations throughout the world, a potent ideological challenge to liberal democratic norms is the recent claim that “differential” rights are essential to foster and protect the identity of individual rights within culturally distinct groups. This article examines the claim that cultural identity confers sufficient normative force upon which to base distinct political rights for specific groups. In what, precisely, does the normative force of “cultural identity” lie? The article challenges the claims that individuals' sense of personal identity can only arise through a “secure cultural context”; that a passive sense of group identity is a “primary good” that equals or even precedes the importance of universal human rights; and that this “politics of inclusion” based upon differential rights for different groups will lead to greater equality and tolerance within the larger political community.

Abstract. This article examines the federal Conservative party's notion of “open federalism” from a political economy perspective. In doing so, it argues that open federalism will appeal to business interests and not to unions and social activists, because it is consistent with the neoliberal approach to federalism which seeks to lock in free market-oriented policies. To demonstrate this point, the article draws on the work of neoliberal intellectuals—including Nobel laureates Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman and James Buchanan—on “market-preserving federalism” and compares it with the key principles of open federalism and those advocated by business lobby groups and think tanks.

Résumé. Cet article examine la notion de “ fédéralisme ouvert ” adoptée par le Parti conservateur fédéral dans une perspective d'économie politique. Il avance que le fédéralisme ouvert plaira au milieu des affaires et déplaira aux syndicats et aux militants sociaux parce qu'il concorde avec la conception néolibérale du fédéralisme qui vise à instituer des politiques compatibles avec l'économie de marché. La démonstration s'appuie sur les travaux de penseurs néolibéraux—notamment les lauréats du prix Nobel, Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman et James Buchanan—sur le concept d'un fédéralisme qui préserve le marché (market-preserving federalism) et compare ce concept aux principes de base du fédéralisme ouvert et à ceux que prônent les groupes de pression et les analystes du milieu des affaires.

The article defends the classical version of ministerial responsibility against recent initiatives to implement a form of direct accountability for administrators. Constitutional convention and ministerial resignations from active cabinets in the Canadian federal government and in Britain are described: in neither country do ministers resign for maladministration by their officials, nor does doctrine suggest they should. Rather, the pattern of resignations indicates the importance of collective responsibility, as well as the relative unimportance of ministerial misbehaviour. The conclusion sets out the negative implications for democratic government of substituting a kind of direct “accountability” of officials, extracted in political forums, for the responsibility of ministers.

This paper argues that, despite significant increases in the number of women professors and the growth of feminist political science, transformative change hasn't occurred in how conventional political scientists think about politics. “Transformative change” requires the successful mainstreaming of gender-focused knowledge and the use of “gender” as a category of analysis in studies of politics. The article first explores the insights of leading feminist political scientists in the five Anglo-American democracies, about why gender mainstreaming has not succeeded to date. It establishes the extent of the failure and explores its causes, including the discipline's fragmented structure, polarized culture and a number of theoretical and methodological incompatibilities between mainstream and feminist political science. Finally, several promising strategies for achieving transformative change are explored.

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.

This article compares various indicators in order to establish the weight of linguistic considerations in the constitutional choices of francophone Quebeckers. This comparison is made within a model which also takes into account the respondents' feelings of attachment to Quebec and Canada and their expectations of sovereignty's economic consequences. The results show that an adequate measure of the expected linguistic gains associated with sovereignty must take into account both the comparative and prospective dimensions of these expectations. The use of one such measure confirms the often-stated but previously unproven thesis that linguistic considerations play a crucial role in Quebeckers' constitutional choices.