Provincial Democracy

Provinces is both a study of Canadian provincial government and a review of comparative politics. As such, it represents a long overdue return to the comparative tradition with its emphasis on subject-specific studies across the country. The chapters in this revised edition of Provinces, each of which has been written for the book by a leading scholar, are arranged according to four major sections?political life, institutions, public administration, and public policy?making the book highly suitable for those interested in areas beyond provincial politics. At the same time, the adopted comparative approach reveals a wealth of insight into Canadian politics at the beginning of the new millennium. This new edition covers some of the vital concerns of our time: a disquiet about the quality of democracy, concern about women?s place in provincial societies, interest in the nature and potential of governance in the north, unease on the question of the fiscal imbalance between all orders of government, a sensitivity to the needs of cities and communities, assessment of the retrenchment of the state, and consideration of the policy futures influenced by the changing demography of the provinces. Special Combined Price: Provinces, second edition may be ordered together with The Provincial State in Canada: Politics in the Provinces and Territories at a special discounted price. In order to secure the package price, the following ISBN must be used when ordering: 978-1-55402-587-9.

Situated within the context of seismic global transformations of the early twentieth century—namely the two World Wars and the crisis of the imperial order—Provincial Democracy delves into the period between the decline of empire and the rise of the nation. This period, the book contends, is defined by not only the dominance of the nation state and debates over a new global order, but also the expansion of democratic participation in defining and negotiating political futures and an increased use of the language of liberalism, political rights, and self-government in colonial India. Moreover, it shifts the focus from the dominant narrative of linguistic nationalism as defining regionalism on to debates over questions of representation, rights, political reforms, and federalism. Thus, it uncovers a broad perspective on political imaginaries that anticipated democracy in independent India.

In Democracy in Alberta: The Theory and Practice of a Quasi-Party System, published in 1953, C. B. Macpherson explored the nature of democracy in a province that was dominated by a single class of producers. At the time, Macpherson was talking about Alberta farmers, but today the province can still be seen as a one-industry economy—the 1947 discovery of oil in Leduc having inaugurated a new era. For all practical purposes, the oil-rich jurisdiction of Alberta also remains a one-party state. Not only has there been little opposition to a government that has been in power for over forty years, but Alberta ranks behind other provinces in terms of voter turnout, while also boasting some of the lowest scores on a variety of social welfare indicators. The contributors to Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy critically assess the political peculiarities of Alberta and the impact of the government’s relationship to the oil industry on the lives of the province’s most vulnerable citizens. They also examine the public policy environment and the entrenchment of neoliberal political ideology in the province. In probing the relationship between oil dependency and democracy in the context of an industrialized nation, Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy offers a crucial test of the “oil inhibits democracy” thesis that has hitherto been advanced in relation to oil-producing countries in the Global South. If reliance on oil production appears to undermine democratic participation and governance in Alberta, then what does the Alberta case suggest for the future of democracy in industrialized nations such as the United States and Australia, which are now in the process of exploiting their own substantial shale oil reserves? The environmental consequences of oil production have, for example, been the subject of much attention. Little is likely to change, however, if citizens of oil-rich countries cannot effectively intervene to influence government policy.

Provinces is now established as the most comprehensive yet accessible exploration of Canadian provincial politics and government. The authors of each chapter draw on their particular expertise to examine themes and issues pertaining to all the provinces from a comparative perspective. The book is organized into four major sections - political landscapes, the state of democracy in the provinces, political structures and processes, and provincial public policy. The third edition features eleven new chapters, including: province building, provincial constitutions, provincial judicial systems, plurality voting in the provinces, voting patterns in the provinces, provincial public service, provincial party financing, provincial health policy, social policy, climate change, and labour market policy. All other chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated.

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.

For more than a generation, Democratic Government in Canada has been the classic introduction to the structure and fundamental ideas of the federal government. A close examination behind the interrelationships of the House of Commons, the cabinet, the Senate, the monarchy and governor general, the courts and the public service provides a concise survey of the practice of democracy in Canada. Winner of the 1949 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. 1989.

For more than a generation this concise survey has been the classic introduction to the fundamental ideas and structure of Canadian government and the practice of democracy in this country. It examines the various elements of federal government — the House of Commons, the cabinet, the Senate, the monarchy and governor-general, the public service, and the courts — and of provincial and municipal governments, and explores their interrelationships. In this new edition Norman Ward has incorporated the many changes in government since his last revision in 1971.