Legislatures, and the men and women who serve in them, form the very heart of Canadian democracy. After all, with the very rare exception of nationwide referendums, Canadians speak collectively only when voting for the people who will be representing their interests in Ottawa. The same is true provincially. But how "democratic" are legislative assemblies in Canada? After we elect our representatives, are we comfortable that we are being properly, and democratically, represented? Apparently not -- respect for legislatures and legislators in Canada has steadily declined, and this perception is only aggravated by the current political climate. Legislatures provides a democratic audit of Canada?s provincial and national representative assemblies. It argues that the problem existing in these bodies is not a lack of talent so much as a lack of institutional freedom. Specifically, the problem is largely one of resources and rules. The move to a more multi-party system nationally and the increasing tendency to downsize provincial assemblies has placed additional hurdles in the path to good governance. Docherty uses the series? criteria of responsiveness, inclusiveness, and participation to evaluate critically the performance of legislatures in Canada, and makes recommendations for legislative reform in Canada. A crucial and timely overview of legislatures, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Canadian politics, as well as politicians and policymakers and anyone interested in the current state of Canadian democracy.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-214) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 328.71
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Published in association with the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount Allison University"--prelim Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 0774810645 9780774851268
- LCCN
- JL136
- LCCN Item number
- D62 2005eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xi, 224 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)mat00322199 (OCoLC)123439063 (CaOOCEL)404274
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Contents 6
- Tables 7
- Foreword 8
- Acknowledgments 12
- 1 A Democratic Audit of Canadian Legislatures 16
- 2 Who Represents Canadians? 39
- 3 Roles in the Assembly 60
- 4 Constituency Work 85
- 5 Opportunities in the Assembly 107
- 6 Scrutiny and the Size of Legislatures 131
- 7 The Legislative Process 152
- 8 What Legislatures Should (and Should Not) Do 189
- Discussion Questions 212
- Additional Reading 216
- Works Cited 219
- Index 228
- A 228
- B 228
- C 229
- D 230
- E 230
- F 230
- G 230
- H 231
- I 231
- J 231
- K 231
- L 231
- M 231
- N 232
- O 233
- P 233
- Q 235
- R 235
- S 236
- T 236
- U 237
- V 237
- W 237
- Y 237
