The Once And Future Canadian Democracy

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2003-10-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780773571686

Get Book

Once and Future Canadian Democracy by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

To revitalize politics we need to abandon the idea that ideologies evolve from "right" to "left", from conservatism to socialism, and look at our political differences in terms of the distinction, more familiar in the arts, between classicism and romanticism. She argues that by abandoning our current modes of debate and rediscovering the Enlightenment liberalism that is an enduring part of our political tradition we will help to recreate Canada as a place of debate on fundamentals, not one in which a monolithic definition of identity answers all questions in advance.

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Canada
ISBN : 6612861665

Get Book

The Once and Future Canadian Democracy by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 171 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2014-04-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780773590267

Get Book

Discovering Confederation by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Janet Ajzenstat is one of Canada's most respected thinkers on the moral and philosophical foundations of responsible government and Confederation. Discovering Confederation is a study of political science over the last forty years through the intellectual lens of her career. Ajzenstat details her academic journey, from her early years as a hopeful, radical activist in the 1960s, through her graduate studies at McMaster University and the University of Toronto, her commitment to the importance of primary source documents, and to her decades-long teaching career. Learning from prominent political thinker Allan Bloom and philosopher and political commentator George Grant, Ajzenstat began to form her own opinions about parliamentary democracy and constitutional debate. She presents her discovery of the argument for parliamentary democracy, explaining how and why parliamentary democracy is sufficient security for individual rights. Though sometimes referred to as a conservative, Ajzenstat shows that her work is a defence of the political constitution, which ensures unconstrained and continuing deliberation amongst parties, interests, and philosophies of all political stripes. A candid and engaging showcase of a great mind at work, Discovering Confederation is a revealing account of Canada's political history and recent academic life.

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : History
ISBN : 9780773575936

Get Book

Canadian Founding by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Convinced that rights are inalienable and that legitimate government requires the consent of the governed, the Fathers of Confederation - whether liberal or conservative - looked to the European enlightenment and John Locke. Janet Ajzenstat analyzes the legislative debates in the colonial parliaments and the Constitution Act (1867) in a provocative reinterpretation of Canadian political history from 1864 to 1873. Ajzenstat contends that the debt to Locke is most evident in the debates on the making of Canada's Parliament: though the anti-confederates maintained that the existing provincial parliaments offered superior protection for individual rights, the confederates insisted that the union's general legislature, the Parliament of Canada, would prove equal to the task and that the promise of "life and liberty" would bring the scattered populations of British North America together as a free nation.

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 301 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 1995-11-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780773580428

Get Book

Canada's Origins by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Ajzenstat and Smith challenge the idea of Canada as a country whose liberal individualism, unlike that of the United States, is redeemed by a tradition of government intervention in economic and social life: the so-called "tory touch." This ground-breaking book begins with the now classic article in which the red tory view was formulated. It then presents a new and illuminating picture of Canadian political life, in which liberal individualism confronts not toryism but the participatory tradition of civic republicanism. In the final section the two editors, one a liberal, the other a civic republican, debate the crucial questions dominating Canadian politics today-including Quebec's search for recognition-from the perspective of their shared understanding of Canada's founding.

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : History
ISBN : 0773526595

Get Book

The Once and Future Canadian Democracy by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Annotation An inspiring case for parliamentary democracy and a sympathetic exploration of current discontents.

Author : Elisabeth Gidengil,Heather Bastedo
Publisher : UBC Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2014-06-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780774828284

Get Book

Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up by Elisabeth Gidengil,Heather Bastedo Pdf

Canada is often held up as an example of a healthy democracy. However, the Canadian public is less enthusiastic about the way our democracy works. Rather than focusing on institutional performance, this book approaches the “democratic deficit” from the perspective of the Canadian public and assesses the performance of political leaders and the media in light of Canadians’ perceptions and expectations. In doing so, a number of chapters highlight the disjuncture between perceptions and performance. For example, governments do keep many of their election promises, and media coverage is not as negative as we are apt to believe. Similarly, the book provides new insights into political apathy by drawing on focus group discussions that represent the first attempt to ask politically marginalized Canadians why they have turned their backs on politics. By introducing the voice of everyday Canadians, this book adds a new perspective to political discussions in this country. Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up is essential for anyone who would like to learn how to build a better democracy – one that meets the expectations of the Canadian public.

Author : Stanley Bréhaut Ryerson
Publisher : Progress Books
Page : 134 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1980
Category : Canada
ISBN : 9780919396364

Get Book

French Canada by Stanley Bréhaut Ryerson Pdf

Author : Donald J. Savoie
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2019-09-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780228000419

Get Book

Democracy in Canada by Donald J. Savoie Pdf

Canada's representative democracy is confronting important challenges. At the top of the list is the growing inability of the national government to perform its most important roles: namely mapping out collective actions that resonate in all regions as well as enforcing these measures. Others include Parliament's failure to carry out important responsibilities, an activist judiciary, incessant calls for greater transparency, the media's rapidly changing role, and a federal government bureaucracy that has lost both its way and its standing. Arguing that Canadians must reconsider the origins of their country in order to understand why change is difficult and why they continue to embrace regional identities, Democracy in Canada explains how Canada's national institutions were shaped by British historical experiences, and why there was little effort to bring Canadian realities into the mix. As a result, the scope and size of government and Canadian federalism have taken on new forms largely outside the Constitution. Parliament and now even Cabinet have been pushed aside so that policy makers can design and manage the modern state. This also accounts for the average citizen's belief that national institutions cater to economic elites, to these institutions' own members, and to interest groups at citizens' own expense. A masterwork analysis, Democracy in Canada investigates the forces shaping the workings of Canadian federalism and the country's national political and bureaucratic institutions.

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : MQUP
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2007-05-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0773531521

Get Book

Canadian Founding by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Convinced that rights are inalienable and that legitimate government requires the consent of the governed, the Fathers of Confederation - whether liberal or conservative - looked to the European enlightenment and John Locke. Janet Ajzenstat analyzes the legislative debates in the colonial parliaments and the Constitution Act (1867) in a provocative reinterpretation of Canadian political history from 1864 to 1873. Ajzenstat contends that the debt to Locke is most evident in the debates on the making of Canada's Parliament: though the anti-confederates maintained that the existing provincial parliaments offered superior protection for individual rights, the confederates insisted that the union's general legislature, the Parliament of Canada, would prove equal to the task and that the promise of "life and liberty" would bring the scattered populations of British North America together as a free nation.

Author : Elizabeth May
Publisher : McClelland & Stewart
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2010-07-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781551994055

Get Book

Losing Confidence by Elizabeth May Pdf

A ringing manifesto for change from Canada’s Green Party leader and Activist. We Canadians are waking up from our long political slumber to realize that there will not be change unless we insist upon it. We have a presidential-style prime minister without the checks and balances of either the US or the Canadian systems. Attack ads run constantly, backbenchers and cabinet ministers alike are muzzled, committees are deadlocked, and civility has disappeared from the House of Commons. In Losing Confidence, Elizabeth May outlines these and other problems of our political system, and offers inspiring solutions to the dilemmas we face. “We no longer behead people in Canada, but Stephen Harper’s coup d’état cannot be allowed to stand, not least because of the precedent. Any future government can now slip the leash of democracy in the same way. This is how constitutions fail.” - Ronald Wright

Author : Janet Ajzenstat
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : History
ISBN : 0773506373

Get Book

Political Thought of Lord Durham by Janet Ajzenstat Pdf

Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America is usually discussed only in terms of its historical context - the events that brought Durham to Canada and the consequences of the Report's reform proposals. In a markedly different approach, Janet Ajzenstat treats the Report as a text in modern political thought. She develops Durham's underlying arguments and assumptions, demonstrating the essentially liberal character of his recommendations and revealing a tough-minded argument about political freedom and the place of national minorities in a free society.

Author : C. Richard Tindal
Publisher : FriesenPress
Page : 112 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2014-12-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781460259702

Get Book

Reviving Canadian Democracy by C. Richard Tindal Pdf

The Downward Spiral of Canadian Democracy Democratic government in Canada has been declining – at an accelerating rate. The House of Commons is ineffective. The Senate is not accountable and is scandal-ridden. Decision making is increasingly centralized in the largely invisible staff in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Many who have been active participants have turned off and tuned out because of understandable disillusionment. The result is that actions that undermine democracy can now be taken without much fear of reprisal. This book explains how our democratic governing machinery and operating principles have been undermined and what can be done to reverse this downward slide. It is intended to enrage you and then engage you – in the fight to restore and to enhance our democratic institutions and practices.

Author : Elisabeth Gidengil
Publisher : UBC Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2014-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780774828277

Get Book

Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up by Elisabeth Gidengil Pdf

Canada is often held up as an example of a healthy democracy. However, the Canadian public is less enthusiastic about the way our democracy works. This first-of-a-kind book approaches the “democratic deficit” from the perspective of everyday Canadians and assesses the performance of Parliament and the media in light of their perceptions and expectations. In doing so, a number of chapters highlight the disjuncture between perceptions and performance. Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up is essential for anyone who would like to learn how to build a better democracy – one that meets the expectations of the Canadian public.

Author : Canadian Centre for Management Development
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0773526196

Get Book

Protecting Canadian Democracy by Canadian Centre for Management Development Pdf

This first in-depth analysis of Canada's Senate in 40 years.