Suchergebnisse

In response to a rebuttal by Knopff & Morton to Smith (both, 2002) & her criticism of their earlier analysis (2000 [1992]) of the activist role of the Canadian Supreme Court & the legitimacy of judicial review, Knopff & Morton are accused of letting their personal & partisan political prejudices shape their views. Points on which they contend that Smith agrees with them are challenged, & major points of disagreement are identified, particularly, the notion that there has been a Charter revolution in Canada driven by group politics. To their accusation that Smith is "creating a straw man," she responds that they are "chasing a chimera.". K. Hyatt Stewart

English Canada has a long-standing institutionalist tradition, & an analysis of its history demonstrates that it tends to center on the encouragement of national unity through modifications to the existing Canadian state. The strongest element of English Canadian institutionalism appears to have been its normative & descriptive characteristics, & description is still very significant in contemporary institutionalist literature. However, within the realm of policy studies, a new emphasis on historical institutionalism is becoming apparent. Regret is expressed that English Canadian institutionalism is not adequately influenced by, or influencing, economic politics, but this is considered unsurprising since, in English Canadian political science, value debates have dominated the intellectual & university environments to the detriment of empirical & comparative social science. D. Weibel

AbstractThis article examines the impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on social movement politics in Canada using the case of the gay liberation movement. Drawing on the comparative social movement literature, the article situates equality seeking as a strategy and meaning game that legitimates new political identities and that is aimed at mobilizing a movement's constituency. The article demonstrates that equality seeking was a strategy and a meaning frame that was deployed in the lesbian and gay rights movement (exemplified by the gay liberation movement of the 1970s) prior to the entrenchment of the Charter. Thus, it concludes that some claims about the Charter's impact on social movement organizing have been exaggerated.

Examines impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on movement politics, focusing on the period before the Charter's enactment, and on equality seeking in the courts; since the 1970s, chiefly. Summary in French.

Uses the case of the lesbian & gay rights movement to consider whether & how the Canadian Charter of Rights shaped the discourse & strategies of social movement politics. Given that the 1982 constitutional amendment is widely seen as politically illegitimate by many francophone Quebecers, the impact of the Canadian Charter on social movement politics in Quebec is compared to its impact in the rest of Canada. It is concluded that nationalism has shaped the responses of the movements to new political opportunities. Adapted from the source document.