This article examines the properties and relative strengths of two approaches to reducing barriers to trade among nations: multilateral negotiating rounds versus regional economic blocs. Instead of focusing on the net welfare gains—the macro-level effects—that result either from each member of the system reducing trade barriers to all its partners (rounds) or from reductions among a subset of states (blocs), the analysis focuses on the institutional features (group size and the voting and enforcement mechanisms) that may affect individual nations' micro-level motivations to participate in and abide by certain trade arrangements. Existing models in formal theory are used to analyze these approaches in terms of voting games and collective action models.

This article discusses difficulties in recent works advocating differentiated rights for ethnic groups based on the vulnerability of their cultures. Concentrating on the recent works of Will Kymlicka, the author suggests that such culturalist theories are based on an anachronistic vision of the relation between ethnos and culture and underestimate the depth and extent of the pluralism we face. The author focuses on two central difficulties. One is the tendency to overplay the contrast between the vulnerability of mainstream and minority cultural groups, overestimating the importance of ethnic institutions compared to other cultural infrastructures. The other is the problem of territory. Kymlicka's theory supports a model of ethnic hegemony over particular territories. The author suggests that in an era of densely overlapping cultures a model of ethnic hegemony over territory cannot be sustained as part of a theory which takes cultural fairness seriously. The article concludes with suggestions for an alternative perspective which might allow us to address the predicaments of culturally vulnerable individuals without incurring the difficulties that culturalism entails.

Most of the work on policy dynamics focuses on the agenda-setting stage of the policy cycle and argues that policy issues wax and wane in public attention, generating either a cyclical or evolutionary pattern of governmental activity in particular policy sectors. Anthony Downs's notion of a periodic “issue-attention cycle” and Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones's notion of a stepped or “punctuated equilibrium” pattern of policy change are prominent in the literature, but have received little empirical and virtually no cross-national verification. Utilizing the analysis of time-series data gathered on nuclear energy and acid rain issues appearing on government and public agendas in Canada over the period 1977–1992, this article elaborates the elements of the two models and subjects both to empirical testing. The article finds little support for either model in the Canadian case and argues the assumptions behind the models must be altered to account for this anomalous case.

This article presents a way of thinking about citizenship which incorporates theoretical elements of historical institutionalism and political economy. These provide the tools for identifying patterns of change in visions of the proper form of the triangular relationship among the state, the market and communities. These discourses, as well as the practices which result from it, are labelled the citizenship regime. The history of this concept is analyzed to account for some of the difficulties of contemporary Canada. There is now a double challenge. Increasingly, Quebec and the rest of Canada promote a different balance of responsibility among the state, market and communities. As well, neo-liberal efforts to reduce deficits and redesign government are challenging received ideas of solidarity. The result is that the pan-Canadian and Quebec's citizenship regimes are diverging.

In The Law of the Constitution, Dicey contends that parliamentary sovereignty guarantees rights. An absurd claim? Perhaps. But sympathetic exploration shows he is relying on assumptions central to liberal constitutionalism about the power of free speech and partisan debate to effect good laws. He expects rights guarantees to emerge from the contest among parties in the legislature. Reading Dicey today shows how deep-seated is the loss of confidence in parliamentary deliberation, and raises an awkward question: Is the very idea of parliamentary democracy in jeopardy?

Two ideologies have survived the turmoil of the twentieth century: nationalism and liberalism. It is therefore very important to confront them and to see how compatible they are. In this article the author presents and discusses the national policies advocated by the three most influential liberal schools: the neutralists, the autonomists and the nationalists.

Public opinion regarding environmental issues has attracted considerable scholarly attention during the 1990s. Less attention has been paid to links between environmentally friendly attitudes and “green” behaviour and the degree to which behaviour is context or value-driven, especially in Canada. Using survey data from British Columbia, this article analyzes these links, paying particular attention to differences between public perceptions of local versus global environment, and how these concerns influence behaviour. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of distinguishing between different types of behaviour. While the crucial role of postmaterial values for three kinds of environmentally friendly behaviour is confirmed, other factors, particularly left/right ideological differences and personal financial circumstances emerge as significant explanatory variables. “Green consumer behaviour” is largely determined by local context. Local concerns also drive “green political activity,” but value differences are crucial as well. Left/right differences and personal financial circumstances are especially important in explaining “green pocketbook behaviour” — willingness to incur costs, either personally or through taxes, for environmental protection and enhancement.

Rational choice theory has drawn attention to the phenomenon of structure-induced equilibrium in situations of potential cycling. When there is no majority, first preference or Condorcet winner, the outcome is determined by agenda control and institutional rules of decision making. Within that context, the status quo has a special advantage because of the parliamentary amendment procedure, in which the status quo, as the default option to the bill in formal form, is not voted upon until the last stage. The unsuccessful attempts of the Canadian government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to respond legislatively to the Supreme Court's Morgentaler decision illustrate these general principles of rational choice. The government was unable to get legislation passed because, with cyclical configurations of opinion in both the House of Commons and the Senate, institutional rules, especially the order of voting required by the parliamentary amendment procedure, favoured the status quo.

The policy consequences of having more women in positions of political power remain an issue of debate in the literature on women and politics. Since differences in the attitudes of women and men politicians are important to this question, data on gender differences in the opinions of politicians are a welcome contribution to the debate. This article explores the question of gender differences in opinion among a sample of candidates for the 1993 Canadian general election and considers whether differences persist once party is taken into account. The findings confirm the view that on issues particularly related to women, gender does structure opinion. On other issues, while party plays a predominant role in differentiating opinion, gender has an imprint, albeit variable by party and attitudinal domain.

In this article we seek to find a way out of the antinomic debate pitting the advocates of the substantialist thesis against those who defend constructivist theories regarding the nation as a “place so named” (lieu dit). Using examples from the case of Quebec—with a view to illustrating a line of argument much more than establishing an empirical interpretation—we attempt to reconcile perspectives from a semantic of action with those from a pragmatic of action within the framework of a theory-in-progress of narraction.

This article examines the interrelationship between and the relative importance of individual leadership and structural power in promoting (or impeding) regime implementation. The theoretical debates on structural power and individual leadership are related to a particular case of regime implementation: the efforts of the Preparatory Commission on the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to make the international seabed regime operational. The article concludes that hegemonic stability theory highlights a variable—structural power—which in this case is the key determinant of the ability to exert influence. On the other hand, hegemonic stability theory fails to establish causal links and it ignores other important variables, such as the constraints imposed by changes in the domestic environments of leading states as well as in the international environment. In the pulling and hauling of international negotiations aimed at regime implementation, individuals can and do play significant roles as structural, intellectual and, most particularly, entrepreneurial leaders.

Canada's single-member plurality (SMP) rules for elections to the House of Commons have a number of disadvantages, including their tendency to promote severe underrepresentation of the governing party in some regions, reward regionally concentrated parties, lead to single-region dominance of the governing party caucus and underrepresent women, Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. Electoral reforms proposed to weaken these effects, especially proportional representation and “mixed-member corrective” systems, generally make single-party majority governments almost impossible. After reviewing alternatives, this article presents a simulation of the effects of a system featuring a limited number of compensation seats designed to award most of these seats to the parties that garner the most votes nationwide. This system could help rectify many of the problems associated with the current SMP system while only modestly lowering the prospects for single-party majority government.

Using data on women's representation at the municipal level in Quebec over the 1985–1995 period, this article questions the assumption that there are few barriers to women's access to elected office at the local level. While the number of female mayors and councillors in Quebec's cities has increased significantly, the authors find that many councils have either no women or only a token female presence. The more desirable the council seat, the less likely women are to have achieved a significant level of representation. The general weakness of community characteristics and political structures in explaining variation in women's representation points to the presence of more systemic barriers.

Since the end of the Cold War, the redeployment of the defence industry in a civilian economy has become problematic for governments that pursue conflicting industrial and technological strategies. This article looks at the current options as Canada reexamines its support for the defence industry. The author first presents a theoretical analysis of the issues, then compares the approaches of four of Canada's largest competitors in the production of military and commercial technology: the United States, France, Germany and Japan. The conclusions drawn from the study are explained, with particular emphasis on the need for Canada to develop without further delay a comprehensive policy in the area.

A review of contributions to the resource conservation literature shows that sustainability problems are seen as caused by “common property.” This “tragedy of the commons” is understood as the result of the failure to assign fully property rights to individuals. The supporting assumptions and premises to these “privatarian” arguments are explicated and examined. After refuting the main premises, it is argued that the application of neoclassical assumptions and premises overlooks other legitimate forms of ownership as effective solutions to the tragedy of the commons. In revisiting other categories of ownership, the limits of privatarianism are identified and the prospects for solutions to sustainability problems are expanded.

In this article, it is argued that Canada's relatively low rate of political participation is related to its electoral system being nonproportional, but that a complementary factor is to be found in its political institutions being discontinuous. Discontinuous institutions are manifested in relatively weak links between political organizations active municipally, regionally (provincially) and nationally. While the relationship between proportional representation (PR) and high turnout has been well established in the literature, there is still a puzzle surrounding the theoretical explanation for it. The author argues that the key to the solution to this puzzle lies less in the additional potential benefits to the voter in a PR system than in the reduction of costs, specifically information costs under such a system. PR is seen to frame incentives and disincentives for political actors in such a manner as to result in a reduction of the cost of political information. This is especially the case when PR is embedded in integrated (non-discontinuous) political institutional arrangements. The most salient manifestation of this effect is seen in comparative turnout levels in municipal elections.

This article examines the 1992 Progressive Conservative leadership election in Alberta, Canada, and assesses the degree to which this universal ballot produced a leadership electorate distinctive from that enfranchised at the previous convention. The universal ballot electorate possessed a limited background in the party, was not heavily involved in the campaign but included a much higher proportion of women and substantially more elderly voters. Participation remained essentially a middle-class endeavour. Although many of the concerns raised by critics of the universal ballot are confirmed by the Alberta experiment, there are positive features to the Alberta model and the move to universal balloting is not without its merits.

This article examines voting trends in recent Ontario elections and the impact of incumbency, gender, campaign expenditures and the number of candidates per seat on the electoral success of a candidate. Voter turnout is found to be consistently lower in larger cities. The number of females holding office has increased over time, with large cities having the highest proportion of females in office. As candidates, males and females have similar success rates. Incumbency provides a huge advantage, especially in large cities. The level of campaign spending also has a significant effect as does the number of candidates contesting a seat.

This article explores ways of improving Canada's constitutional reform process by systematically comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional rounds during three phases: agenda-setting, elite negotiation and ratification. The objective is to draw lessons from these experiences for future attempts to achieve formal constitutional change. The author argues that both the Meech Lake and Charlottetown processes were seriously flawed, but in rather contrasting ways. The Meech Lake process was too closed, narrowly representative and tightly controlled by government elites. The Charlottetown process was poorly managed. It lacked focus, economy and coherence in agenda-setting and selection of items for negotiation, and integration and unified leadership in its elite bargaining structures and processes. The consultative referendum used in the Charlottetown process operated successfully, but still needed organizational fine-tuning and more effective meshing with established ratification procedures. What is required is a more finely balanced and closely integrated “blended” process of parallel elite and citizen-based consultative and participatory structures operating in all phases of the constitutional process. Within this framework, the author offers a comprehensive list of proposals for addressing and overcoming the shortcomings of earlier constitutional reform efforts.

As a strategy of immigrant inclusion, official multiculturalism in Canada is based on the premise that national integration is possible, even preferable, without assimilation. This article considers whether such an approach can be successful. Drawing on a qualitative study of Lao immigrants in Ontario, it is suggested that newcomers can in fact be disposed to high levels of political commitment, specific mechanisms of political assimilation aside, as a result of the process of immigration itself. At least in the short term, though perhaps mainly in the short term, the Canadian political order does not seem to suffer for lack of an assimilative emphasis.