Contemporary Federalist Thought in Quebec

Contemporary Federalist Thought in Quebec
Author: Antoine Brousseau Desaulniers
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2023-06-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0228017920

Quebec’s most recent attempts to assert its distinctiveness within Canada have relied on unilateral constitutional means to strengthen its French and secular character, suggesting that an important change of political culture has taken place in Quebec. With its diverse team of researchers, Contemporary Federalist Thought in Quebec considers the recent history of the debate that once threatened Canada with disjunction, exploring the federalist thought that continues to shape constitutional debate in Quebec. Examining historical perspectives from 1950 to the present day, the volume draws portraits of the key actors in the federalist movement – including political leaders, intellectuals, academics, activists, and spokespersons for pressure groups – comparing their various outlooks, interventions, and values, and examining the ties that bind these actors to the sense of nationalism that emerged during Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, Contemporary Federalist Thought in Quebec casts new light on the continuing debate surrounding Quebec’s place in Canada and gives nuance to what is traditionally conceived as a rigid opposition between sovereigntists and federalists in the province.

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

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.

Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?
Author: Charles Blattberg
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2003
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780773525962

Charles Blattberg shows that while a just politics based on dialogue is at the core of Canadians' sense of ourselves as citizens, our current forms of dialogue are inadequate. To some, we should be pleading before authorities responsible for upholding a unified foundation for our politics. Pierre Trudeau and his followers, for example, advocate a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that trumps any values not contained within it. To others, we ought to be true to the longstanding Canadian political tradition of compromise and so negotiate our conflicts, a form of dialogue that strives for accommodation rather than trumping. Blattberg argues, however, that both of these approaches have largely failed us. To him, the preferred form of dialogue in Canadian politics today should be that of conversation. As he shows, only conversation aims for the genuine reconciliation of conflict; only it will help us realize the common good that is at the heart of a truly patriotic Canadian politics.

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

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 Case for Multinational Federalism

The Case for Multinational Federalism
Author: Alain-G. Gagnon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2009-09-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135211418

Throughout the world, liberal-democracies are grappling with increasing claims made in the name of minority national, socio-cultural and ethno-cultural identities that seek greater recognition in the institutions of the nation-state. This work inserts itself into debates centred on diversity through a normative and empirical analytical assessment of the political sociology of multinational democracies. The main thread of the arguments put forward is that federalism, in both its institutional manifestations and its sociological properties, constitutes a promising avenue for the management of cohabitating political communities and for the affirmation of collective identities within states that are constituted by two or more nations. Author Alain-G Gagnon develops his argument by contending that the federal principle allows for the exercise of advanced democratic practices within nation-states, permitting internal nations to openly affirm the bases of adherence to a common political project. At the same time, he argues that federalism nourishes the development of distinct collective traditions that serve to benefit all parties to the association. It is concluded that only in such a scenario will the elusive pursuit of an authentic and shared loyalty underpin multination states and ensure their stability, in contrast to the instrumental sentiments of belonging engendered by procedural territorial federal models. Focusing primarily on the Canadian case, this book also draws inspiration from other federal states (Belgium, the United States), as well as federalizing states (Spain, the United Kingdom). It will be of keen interest to students and scholars of Politics, European Studies, along with Nationalism and Federalism Studies.

Community in Crisis

Community in Crisis
Author: R. Jones
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 205
Release: 1972-01-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 077358272X

Contemporary Canadian Federalism

Contemporary Canadian Federalism
Author: Alain-G. Gagnon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2009-06-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

The papers in this collection offer reflections on Canadian federalism by leading Québécois scholars.