Democracy in Canada : the disintegration of our institutions / Donald J. Savoie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Savoie, Donald J., 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Canada.

Democracy.

Canada--Politics and government.

Canada.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (505 pages)

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

THE CONTEXT

Understanding Democracy

Understanding the Roots of Canadian Democracy

Canada: Setting, People, and Culture

Canada Then

Canadian Federalism Now

Everything Canadian Is Regional, Except National Political Institutions

THE CHANGING FACE OF CANADIAN DEMOCRACY

Getting Elected: The Deinstitutionalization of Political Parties

The Commons: The Institution that Fails

The Senate: The Institution That Never Was

The Cabinet: The Institution That Once Was

The Media: The Lost Institution

A Nowhere Man, in a Nowhere Land: Public Servants Now Operate in Two Institutions

The Public Service: An Institution with Six Goalies

New Forces above the Fault Line

WHY AND WHAT NOW?

Is Canadian Democracy Failing?

Looking Ahead

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-2280-0040-8

OCLC:

1101186483