Scholars have long studied the influence of parties on citizens’ policy preferences. Experiments conducted outside Canada have convincingly shown that the cues offered by political parties can influence people’s attitudes. However, the most prominent study of party cue effects in Canada finds weak effects, concluding that Canadian parties are less influential because they are less clearly ideological than parties elsewhere. We propose that parties are actually more influential than they appear because party cue effects partly depend on variables other than partisanship, notably attitudes toward the cue-giver. This is especially true in countries like Canada with multi-party systems. We show that attitudes toward parties are not clearly reflected in partisanship in Canada. We then show that more specific measures of party and leader attitudes better account for how experimental participants react to cues than does party identification alone.

Résumé. Cette note de recherche se propose d'interroger le fait terroriste à travers une étude du paradigme faisant du terrorisme post-11 septembre 2001 un phénomène «nouveau». L'intérêt de cette contribution est d'examiner précisément la validité de ces études tout en dégageant une approche singulière du terrorisme en tant qu'objet de recherche. Grâce à l'élargissement de la focale d'analyse à un ensemble hétérogène d'acteurs (pouvoirs politiques et de sécurité, médias, opinions publiques), nous proposons une lecture en termes de «scène terroriste». Ne pas se centrer exclusivement sur l'étude des groupes revendiquant la violence politique offre la possibilité de poser de manière renouvelée la question de la nouveauté du terrorisme post-11 septembre comme phénomène politique à part entière.

Abstract. The aim of this contribution consists in analyzing the “terrorism” through the academic and political struggles about the paradigm of the “new terrorism” since the events of 9/11. Thanks to the exploration of the real difference between “old” and “new” forms of terrorism, this research note argues the interest of a specific research design which implies multiplying levels and focus of analysis from the terrorism groups to counterterrorism actors, society and media. This approach in terms of “scène terroriste” asks in a new point of view the question of continuity of political violence since the bombing attacks of 9/11.

In 2006, the Canadian government introduced a new component to its process of selecting Supreme Court justices, a review committee composed of members of Parliament. Tasked with interviewing justices prior to their appointment to the bench, the committee met four times, interviewing only five of the eight judicial candidates appointed to the bench before the Conservative government announced the committee's termination in 2014. This study offers the first comprehensive analysis of the performance of this ad hoc judicial review committee. Using an original dataset, we find that MPs asked little by way of probing questions, such as those related to policy or a candidate's previous jurisprudence. However, we do find some evidence that the hearing process was used to further the political aims of the participating political parties.

L'équipe éditoriale de la Revue canadienne de science politique/Canadian Journal of Political Science (ci-après, la Revue) vous propose pour son cinquantième anniversaire trois textes publiés en français qui jettent un regard critique sur son passé et son avenir et qui retracent aussi, plus généralement, les enjeux inhérents à la production et à la diffusion de travaux en science politique dans la langue française. Nous vous proposons également trois essais critiques qui portent sur différents thèmes de recherche abordés dans les pages de la Revue depuis sa création en 1968.

Résumé. Cette étude de cas démontre que le discours électoral possède des caractéristiques propres. On donne l'exemple de Stephen Harper dont les discours tenus lors des élections de 2008 se différencient de ceux qu'il a prononcés à titre de chef de gouvernement. Le discours électoral est plus ancré socialement. C'est aussi un discours qui valorise le collectif national; le locuteur privilégie l'emploi du «nous», plutôt que de se présenter comme principal responsable des choix collectifs. Comparativement aux discours gouvernementaux, le discours électoral est aussi moins abstrait et plus orienté vers l'action, comme l'indique la prédominance du groupe verbal sur le groupe nominal. La forte présence de la construction négative et la désignation des adversaires (noms propres) soulignent le caractère polémique du discours électoral.

Abstract. This case study demonstrates that electoral speeches possess specific characteristics. We give the example of Stephen Harper's speeches, given during the 2008 elections, which differ from those delivered when he was prime minister. The electoral speech is more socially anchored. It values the nation. When he is campaigning, S. Harper also uses the pronoun “we” more frequently, so that he does not appear as the main decider of collective choices. Compared with governmental speeches, electoral speeches are also less theoretical and more action orientated as indicated by the predominance of verbal over nominal groups. The very frequent presence of the negative construction and the use of opponents' names highlight the polemic character of electoral speeches.

Abstract. The general question addressed in this study is whether voting behaviour in referenda conducted in a pluralistic society tends to reflect more the heterogeneous or the homogeneous characteristics of this society. In order to answer this question we investigated, mainly by means of factor analysis, all 538 federal referenda conducted in Switzerland since the foundation of the Swiss Confederation in 1848 until the end of 2005. Based on the extensive Swiss experience, the answer to our question seems quite clearly to be that the use of referenda as tools of direct democracy in a pluralistic society tends to reflect much more the homogeneous characteristics of that society than its heterogeneous ones.

Résumé. Le thème général de l'étude est le suivant: le comportement des votants qui participent aux référendums dans une société pluraliste est-il influencé par les caractéristiques hétérogènes ou homogènes de la société en question? Afin de répondre à cette question nous avons examiné, par analyse factorielle, 538 referendums fédéraux tenus en Suisse depuis la création de la Confédération suisse en 1848 et jusqu'en 2005. Le résultat de notre recherche montre clairement que l'utilisation des référendums comme instrument de démocratie directe dans une société pluraliste a tendance à refléter davantage les caractéristiques homogènes que les caractéristiques hétérogènes de la société.

This article examines the constituency results in recent Ontario provincial elections in order to estimate the impact of incumbency on the percentage of the vote received by each party. Regression results indicate that incumbency had a significant impact in the three elections studied, adding between six and 12 percentage points to the popular vote for the incumbent's party in a given riding. Moreover, these results are robust, persisting overtime and across parties, and not varying significantly for a variety of specifications of the underlying model.

This article discusses the evolution of the role and the nature of the work that elected representatives in Westminster-type parliamentary systems accomplish in their riding. Drawing on recent data documenting the riding activities of Quebec's Members of the National Assembly and Members of Parliament, we re-evaluate the conclusions of surveys conducted more than 40 years ago. The new data points to gender-based differences in the way elected representatives understand their role and the expectations of their constituents. Today's elected parliamentarians are still primarily concerned with their function as representatives of the people, while they are less driven by personal ideas. We also find that the nature of riding activities varies according to each individual's profile. Finally, we note a strong degree of collaboration between elected representatives and observe changes in the types of issues with which they now concern themselves.

Federalism is commonly described, in Canada and elsewhere, as a political expedient, or a constitutional arrangement, or a sociological characteristic of some societies. Federalism can also be a moral experiment that seeks to realize a way of life. Canada is an instance of such an experiment. Moreover, the moral value that grounds the Canadian experiment is not freedom or diversity, but fraternity. Federalism as fraternity has its beginnings in Cartier's vision of Confederation, and provides a vision of federalism that can sustain Canadians in their times of trouble.

Abstract. Since their introduction in 1973, comprehensive land claims (CLC) agreements have become important mechanisms for Aboriginal peoples to achieve their political, social, cultural, and economic goals. Although the literature on CLC negotiations is a rich and varied one, it has tended to ignore the role that municipal governments have on influencing negotiation outcomes. This lacuna is surprising since a number of treaty negotiations in the Yukon Territory and BC involve lands located in major municipalities. This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding the influence that municipal governments can have on treaty negotiation outcomes. Using a case study of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation treaty negotiations in the Yukon Territory, we find that institutional and milieu factors are important. However, leadership was the most important and decisive factor.

Résumé. Depuis leur apparition en 1973, les ententes portant sur les revendications territoriales globales sont devenues des mécanismes importants pour les peuples autochtones dans l'atteinte de leurs objectifs politiques, sociaux, culturels et économiques. Bien que la documentation sur ces ententes soit volumineuse et variée, elle tend à ignorer le rôle influent que jouent les administrations municipales lors de telles négociations. Cette lacune est surprenante, dans la mesure où plusieurs de ces traitésconcernaient des territoires situés dans des zones urbaines d'importance de la Colombie-Britannique et du Yukon. Cet article vise à développer un cadre théorique pour mieux comprendre l'influence des administrations municipales dans le dénouement de négociations territoriales. En utilisant l'étude de cas des négociations de la Première nation de Kwanlin Dün au Yukon, nous constatons l'importance de la structure institutionnelle et communautaire. Cependant, le leadership demeure le facteur le plus crucial lors d'un tel processus.

Recent reforms to the Canadian Senate removed senators from the Liberal Party caucus and changed the appointment process to be more nonpartisan. This article asks: to what extent did the reforms affect legislative oversight in the Senate? By studying the Senate's legislative amendments, I find that the reformed Senate is more willing to amend bills than it was previously. The reforms led to sharp increases in the Senate's amendment rate, the number of amendments moved and the percentage of successful motions in amendment. In interviews, senators revealed that they see oversight differently following the reforms. Senators no longer have opportunities to advise the government in caucus, so they have begun using amendments to exercise oversight. This article concludes that the reforms shifted senators’ understanding of their function of oversight, leading to a higher amendment rate and increased visible scrutiny of government by the Senate.

Minority nations within multinational States often evolve within a context of great uncertainty when it comes to the protection of their distinctive political and cultural characteristics. While their minority condition in no way limits their existence as nations, it can nevertheless come with a certain feeling of national fragility and even a fear of disappearing. These minority nations, when the State to which they belong refuses to recognize their particularism and to allow them the necessary tools to defend it, can then quickly become fragile nations. In this article, we discuss, define and specify the meaning of the concept of fragile nations, putting the emphasis on its theoretical and normative dimensions.

Three contrary theories of great power war are examined. The first is the common balance of power argument that parity preserves peace. The second is Organski's oft-cited alternative, “the power transition.” The third is a conflation of the first and second. Like the first, the inherent inability to measure power precisely is the basis of the conflated balance of power theory. Like the second, the conclusion is that parity encourages war. Unlike either the first or second theory, the third provides an explanation of the incidence and extent of warfare between great powers. The basic proposition tested is that nonseparated great powers fight as they approach parity in power capabilities. The evidence is from the relations between the European great powers during 1815–1939.

On October 1, 1950, Canadian authorities abandoned the policy of maintaining a fixed rate of exchange for the Canadian dollar for the first time since the beginning of the Second World War. Thereafter the dollar was allowed to fluctuate with little interference from official quarters. The significance of this event extends beyond the evolution of exchange policy in Canada, for it must have affected the attitudes of those countries that have been studying a more flexible exchange system than the one envisaged by the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund.

Canadian monetary authorities have been pursuing a policy designed to reduce changes in the value of the Canadian dollar. Official policy has been described as follows: “Transactions of the Exchange Fund Account in the market in United States dollars were directed to helping to maintain orderly conditions without preventing basic supply and demand factors from determining the level of the rate.” It is argued in this paper that a stabilizing agency that operates according to the commonly accepted principle of resisting all movements in the rate does not, in fact, contribute to that rate's stability. An examination of the operations of the Canadian Exchange Fund Account from September, 1950, to December, 1954, supports this argument. An analysis of the meaning of stabilizing policy will precede the discussion of Canadian experience.

“Political science,” as the term is understood in Canada and the United States, is still not recognized in the USSR as a distinct academic discipline. Although the phrase “Soviet political sciences(s)” has been occasionally used in Soviet literature of recent years, and though in 1960 a “Soviet Association of Political (State) Sciences” was formed, the Academy of Sciences and the institutions of higher learning in the USSR continue to view “political science” as a somewhat alien concept, ideologically ambiguous and academically suspect.

Abstract. Political-economic theory posits that in the face of a perceived decline in service quality, those who might otherwise seek alternatives will be restrained by feelings of loyalty that are a product of their emotional and physical investment in a situation (Hirschman, 1970). Amartya Sen (1977) describes support for policies that is based exclusively in values—rather than self-interest or a combination of the two—as a commitment. This article sets out to answer two questions: First, what proportion of the supporters of Canadian medicare within the province of Alberta currently expresses self-interest, and what proportion does not? We can describe this latter group as possibly expressing commitment. Second, is it possible that those who support medicare and express self-interest also share the same values as those who might be expressing commitment? If so, feelings of loyalty might help to maintain support for medicare among those who currently express self-interest, should they perceive a decline in service quality. While evidence is found to support this view, care must be taken in generalizing the results to the wider population, given the size and nature of the sample.

Résumé. La théorie politique-économique pose en principe que, face à la perception d'un déclin de la qualité des services, ceux qui seraient normalement susceptibles de chercher d'autres solutions seront restreints par les sentiments de loyauté produits par l'investissement émotif et physique de l'individu dans son environnement (Hirschman, 1970). Sen (1977) décrit l'appui voué à certaines politiques pour des raisons exclusivement idéologiques, plutôt que par intérêt personnel, ou encore pour une combinaison de raisons idéologiques et d'intérêt personnel, comme un engagement. Cet article se propose de répondre à deux questions: en premier, quelle proportion de partisans du système public de santé canadien en Alberta exprime, ou n'exprime pas, des intérêts personnels? On peut probablement décrire le groupe qui n'exprime pas d'intérêts personnels comme témoignant d'un engagement. Deuxièmement, est-il possible que ceux qui soutiennent le système de santé tout en exprimant des intérêts personnels aient les mêmes valeurs que ceux qui expriment leur engagement? Si oui, ces sentiments de loyauté pourraient aider à maintenir le soutien pour le système de santé parmi ceux qui expriment actuellement des intérêts personnels, s'ils avaient l'impression d'un déclin de la qualité des services. Bien que nous ayons trouvé des preuves étayant cet avis, il faut être prudent dans la généralisation des résultats à l'ensemble de la population à cause de la taille et de la nature de l'échantillon.

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