Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles

Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles
Author: Kristin M. Bakke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2015-06-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1316300439

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There is no one-size-fits-all decentralized fix to deeply divided and conflict-ridden states. One of the hotly debated policy prescriptions for states facing self-determination demands is some form of decentralized governance - including regional autonomy arrangements and federalism - which grants minority groups a degree of self-rule. Yet the track record of existing decentralized states suggests that these have widely divergent capacity to contain conflicts within their borders. Through in-depth case studies of Chechnya, Punjab and Québec, as well as a statistical cross-country analysis, this book argues that while policy, fiscal approach, and political decentralization can, indeed, be peace-preserving at times, the effects of these institutions are conditioned by traits of the societies they (are meant to) govern. Decentralization may help preserve peace in one country or in one region, but it may have just the opposite effect in a country or region with different ethnic and economic characteristics.

Grassroots Liberals

Grassroots Liberals
Author: Royce Koop
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2011-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0774821000

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The Liberal Party has fallen on hard times since 2006. Once Canada’s natural governing party but now confined to the opposition benches, it struggles to renew itself – presumably without the support of the provincial-level Liberal parties. Drawing on interviews and personal observations in cross-country ridings, Royce Koop reveals that although the Liberal Party, like other parties, disassociated itself from its provincial cousins to rebuild itself in the mid-twentieth century, grassroots Liberals and other partisans continue to build bridges between the national party and the provinces. This insider’s view of Liberal party politics not only challenges the idea that Canada has two distinct political spheres – the provincial and the national – it suggests that national parties can overcome the challenges of multi-level politics, strengthen their ties to provincial politics, and deepen their legitimacy by tapping the activism, energy, and support of constituency associations and local campaigns.

Québec's Political and Constitutional Status

Québec's Political and Constitutional Status
Author: Québec (Province). Secrétariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes
Publisher: Secretaria Ministere
Total Pages: 48
Release: 1999
Genre: Law
ISBN:

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This study reviews the key events pertaining to the question of Quebec's political & constitutional status. The first section covers the period from the British conquest to the Act of Union of 1840. The second discusses Quebec and the Canadian federal system from Confederation in 1867 to the sovereignty referenda in the 1980s. This is followed by a review of the constitutional reform of 1982, attempts at redress from the Meech Lake Accord to the Charlottetown Accord, and finally the 1995 referendum & subsequent events.

Representation and Democratic Theory

Representation and Democratic Theory
Author: David Laycock
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0774841001

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With public confidence in representative institutions dropping to distressing levels, it is time for political theorists to reconnect issues of representation to considerations of justice, rights, citizenship, pluralism, and community. Representation and Democratic Theory investigates theoretical and practical aspects of innovative political representation in the early twenty-first century. It reveals the complexity of contemporary political representation and the importance of re-invigorating public life outside legislatures, political parties, and competitive elections. A crucial supplement to empirical studies of conventional political representation this book offers a timely and thought-provoking contribution to contemporary democratic theory. It will be a necessary and welcome addition to the libraries of many political and social scientists.

Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary

Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary
Author: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Publisher: James Lorimer & Company
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2015-07-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1459410696

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This is the Final Report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its six-year investigation of the residential school system for Aboriginal youth and the legacy of these schools. This report, the summary volume, includes the history of residential schools, the legacy of that school system, and the full text of the Commission's 94 recommendations for action to address that legacy. This report lays bare a part of Canada's history that until recently was little-known to most non-Aboriginal Canadians. The Commission discusses the logic of the colonization of Canada's territories, and why and how policy and practice developed to end the existence of distinct societies of Aboriginal peoples. Using brief excerpts from the powerful testimony heard from Survivors, this report documents the residential school system which forced children into institutions where they were forbidden to speak their language, required to discard their clothing in favour of institutional wear, given inadequate food, housed in inferior and fire-prone buildings, required to work when they should have been studying, and subjected to emotional, psychological and often physical abuse. In this setting, cruel punishments were all too common, as was sexual abuse. More than 30,000 Survivors have been compensated financially by the Government of Canada for their experiences in residential schools, but the legacy of this experience is ongoing today. This report explains the links to high rates of Aboriginal children being taken from their families, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and high rates of suicide. The report documents the drastic decline in the presence of Aboriginal languages, even as Survivors and others work to maintain their distinctive cultures, traditions, and governance. The report offers 94 calls to action on the part of governments, churches, public institutions and non-Aboriginal Canadians as a path to meaningful reconciliation of Canada today with Aboriginal citizens. Even though the historical experience of residential schools constituted an act of cultural genocide by Canadian government authorities, the United Nation's declaration of the rights of aboriginal peoples and the specific recommendations of the Commission offer a path to move from apology for these events to true reconciliation that can be embraced by all Canadians.

Contemporary Quebec

Contemporary Quebec
Author: Michael D. Behiels
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 809
Release: 2011-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773538909

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In the last seventy years, Quebec has changed from a society dominated by the social edicts of the Catholic Church and the economic interests of anglophone business leaders to a more secular culture that frequently elects separatist political parties and has developed the most comprehensive welfare state in North America. In Contemporary Quebec, leading scholars raise provocative questions about the ways in which Quebec has been transformed since the Second World War and offer competing interpretations of the reasons for the province's quiet and radical revolutions.

The Vigil of Quebec

The Vigil of Quebec
Author: Fernand Dumont
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 131
Release: 1974-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 144263846X

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This book was first published in French in the wake of events which have come to be known in Quebec as the 'October crisis of 1970.' Yet this crisis was simply one particularly spectacular episode in the recent history of Quebec. The province has been shaken repeatedly in the last ten years: it has passed, in the author's view, from at least apparent religious unanimity to rapid dechristianization, from ignorance to massive schooling from Mr Duplessis to the independence movement, from the protest of Cité libre to the ascendancy of Mr Trudeau ... but the events of October 1970 have led Quebeckers to query with more anguish thanever before the meaning of the chaotic state of flux in which they live. Fernand Dumont, a sociologist, takes up this search from a personal standpoint. Rather than propose a theory, he attempts a reconstruction of recent Quebec history from the inside. The first three sections reflect the itinerary of a private conscience in quest of a native land and of a form of socialism suited to Quebec. The fourth section is devoted to the October crisis. This book is part of the broader process in which Quebeckers are engaged – attempting to arrive at a deeper understanding of their roots and collective existence in order to forge a better society. Fernand Dumont is perhaps the most sensitive and influential conscience at work in Quebec, and indeed Canada, today. Also included is 'A letter to my English-speaking friends,' which urges English-speaking Canadians to join in genuine dialogue with French-speaking Canadians. Dumont's thoughtful reflections on Quebec's social and political life invite 'les Anglais' to a new view of Quebec.

Freedom in the World 2004

Freedom in the World 2004
Author: Aili Piano
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 756
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780742536456

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Freedom in the World contains both comparative ratings and written narratives and is now the standard reference work for measuring the progress and decline in political rights and civil liberties on a global basis.

Canada's Relationship with Inuit

Canada's Relationship with Inuit
Author: Sarah Bonesteel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2008
Genre: Canada, Northern
ISBN:

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Inuit have lived in Canada's north since time immemorial. The Canadian government's administration of Inuit affairs, however, has been generally shorter and is less well understood than the federal government's relations with First Nations and Métis. We hope to correct some of this knowledge imbalance by providing an overview of the federal government's Inuit policy and program development from first contact to 2006. Topics that are covered by this book include the 1939 Re Eskimo decision that gave Canada constitutional responsibility for Inuit, post World War II acculturation and defence projects, law and justice, sovereignty and relocations, the E-number identification system, Inuit political organizations, comprehensive claim agreements, housing, healthcare, education, economic development, self-government, the environment and urban issues. In order to develop meaningful forward-looking policy, it is essential to understand what has come before and how we got to where we are. We believe that this book will be a valuable contribution to a growing body of knowledge about Canada-Inuit relations, and will be an indispensable resource to all students of federal Inuit and northern policy development.