Trent University
Department of Political Studies
POLITICS 100
An Introduction to the Study of Politics
Monday, Wednesday & Friday evenings, May/June 1991
Instructor: Paul Kellogg
Phone: 416-466-5230 / 325-7042
Outline
The study of politics, broadly considered, is the study of power
relations in society; narrowly considered, it is the study of
power relations as mediated through government and the state.
Both aspects of politics will inform the content of this course.
Through a mix of lectures and seminars, the course will attempt
to unravel the controversies surrounding Meech Lake and the rise
of Quebec nationalism, the rise of the Reform Party, abortion
and Bill C-43, Mexico-Canada Free Trade and the 1990 First
Nations revolt centred at Oka, and in so doing, touch on the key
ideas and concepts needed to pursue a university-level study of
politics.
The course will focus on Canada in the post World War II era,
but will have comparative and historical dimensions to it. It
will be organized around five themes, each with an accompanying
case study.
1. Constitutions
Case study: Meech Lake and Quebec nationalism.
2. Parties & Elections
Case study: the rise of the Reform Party.
3. The State
Case study: abortion and Bill C-43.
4. Political Economy
Case study: Mexico-Canada-US Free Trade.
5. Social Movements
Case study: the 1990 First Nations' Revolt.
Requirements
Marks will be based on three short essays or two short essays
and one class seminar (20% each, total of 60%), a class
participation mark (15%) and a final exam (25%). The essay due
dates are May 25, June 10 and June 22. These are not major
research papers, but short (1500 words, or 5-6 pages) essays
dealing with one key argument from one of the sections of the
course.
Book Purchases
Roger Gibbins, Conflict and Unity, 2nd ed.
Ronald Landes, The Canadian Polity: A Comparative Introduction,
2nd ed.
Robert Campbell and Leslie Pal, The Real World of Canadian
Politics.
W. Christian and C. Campbell, Political Parties and Ideologies
in Canada, 3rd. ed.
Michael D. Behiels, Quebec Since 1945, Copp Clark.
Howard Adams, Prison of Grass: Canada from a Native Point of
View, Fifth House Publishers, revised edition, 1989.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 1: Introduction to Politics 100 and to Political
Science.
Readings: Landes, pages 2-57; Gibbins, 220-272.
Section 1. Constitutions -- Case study: Meech Lake and Quebec
nationalism
Mon., May 6: Lecture: The roots of Canada's constitutional
crises.
• What are constitutions?
• Why do Canadian crises become "constitutional crises"?
• What are the roots of the "Quebec question"?
Readings: Gibbins, 44-101; Behiels, 178-208; Landes, 58-87.
Wed., May 8: Lecture: Quebec nationalism and the 1982
constitutional crisis
• The rise of modern Quebec nationalism
• The rise of "western alienation" and western separatism
• From election to referendum: the Parti Quebecois in power
• From referendum to the 1982 constitution -- was Quebec
excluded?
Readings: Behiels, 21-107; 209-220; Landes, 376-403.
Mon., May 13: Lecture: Mulroney and Quebec nationalism
• The changing character of Quebec nationalism
• The 1984 election and the rise of the Tories in Quebec
• Introduction to Meech Lake
Readings: Campbell & Pal, 227-314; Landes, 412-416.
Wed., May 15: Lecture: Meech Lake -- From compromise to
confrontation
• The Bill 101 controversy and its impact on Quebec
nationalism
• The Bill 101 controversy and its impact on Canadian
nationalism
• The distinct society clause & the split in the
Conservative Parties
Readings: Behiels, 221-306.
Section 2. Parties & Elections -- Case study: the rise of the
Reform Party
Wed., May 22: Lecture: The Collapse of Meech & the Crisis of the
Canadian party system
• The 1988 election and the polarization on free trade
• The response of the Conservative Party
• The response of the NDP and the Liberal Party
• The rise of "right wing populism" and the Reform Party
Readings: Gibbins, 273-332.
Sat. May 25 Day School / First seminar sessions / First essays
due
9-10:30am: Background to the crisis in the party system
• What are political parties?
• Liberals and Tories -- roots of the two "traditional"
parties
• Between the wars and the crisis of the Canadian party
system
Readings: Christian & Campbell, all.
10:30-noon:
Seminar 1
Seminar 2
1-2:30pm: Parties of "Protest" and the rise of the Reform Party
• The CCF/NDP
• From "prairie populism" to "western alienation"
• The Reform Party
Readings: Christian & Campbell, all.
2:30-4pm:
Seminar 3
Seminar 4
Section 3. The State -- Case study: abortion and Bill C-43
Mon. May 27: Bureaucracy, Legislature, Judiciary -- Who Decides
• The rise of the bureaucratic state
• The role of the legislature -- theory and practice
• The role of the judiciary -- theory and practice
Readings: Landes, pages 122-215.
Wed. May 29: Abortion, democracy and the courts
• A moral or political issue?
• The Trudeau watershed
• Morgentaler, the women's movement and the courts
Readings: Campbell and Pal, "Courts, Politics and Morality:
Canada's Abortion Saga", pages 165-226.
Mon. Jun 03: The crisis of Bill C-22
• When is a law not a law? Federal theory and Quebec
practice
• Why Quebec tolerated the clinics
• Explaining the Supreme Court ruling
Readings: Gibbins: 220-272; Behiels, 133-174.
Section 4. Political Economy -- Case study: Mexico-Canada-US
Free Trade
Wed. Jun 05: Canadian political economy
• "Liberal" political economy in Canada
• The rise of left-nationalism and the "new political
economy"
• Canada-U.S. relations; first consideration
Readings: Gibbins, 174-219; Landes, 216-236 and 404-411.
Mon. Jun 10: Canada's place in the world economy
• The "dependency" school
• Is Canada a dependency?
• Explaining Canada's place in the world economy
Readings: xeroxes from the professor
Wed. Jun 12: Free Trade with the U.S.
• What is Free Trade?
• Why did Mulroney push the trade agreement?
• Why did labour and Canadian nationalists oppose the deal?
Readings: Campbell and Pal "A Big Deal? Forging the Canada-US
Free Trade Agreement, pp. 315-399.
Mon. Jun 17: Free Trade with Mexico
• Trade deals between Canada the US and the Third World
• Is the Mexican deal the same as the Canada-US pact?
• Nature of support and opposition to the deal
Readings: xeroxes from the professor.
Section 5. Social Movements -- Case study: the 1990 First
Nations' Revolt
21. Wed. Jun 19: Politics outside of institutions
• What are social movements?
• Civil Rights, Vietnam and the 1960s
• Social movements and Interest Group theory.
Readings: Landes, 351-370; Begin reading Prison of Grass.
SAT. JUN 22: DAY-SCHOOL / 9-5
/ Third essays due
9-10:30am: A "Native" View of Canadian politics
• Were the first nations, "nations"?
• The early Canadian constitutions and native land claims.
• The reserve system
Readings: Continue Prison of Grass
10:30-noon:
Seminar 1
Seminar 2
1-2:30pm: The rise of a "new Native movement"
• American social movements, AIM, and protests in Canada
• From Akwesasne to Kahnawake: The Oka crisis
• Will there be "more Okas"?
Readings: chapter in the new edition of Campbell and Pal on Oka
2:30-4pm:
Seminar 3
Seminar 4
23. Mon. Jun 24: The "national question" in perspective
• Canadian nationalism and the First Nations
• Quebec nationalism and the First Nations
• The issue of self-determination.
Readings: Finish Prison of Grass.
24. Wed. Jun 26: REVIEW
Essay / Seminar Topics
There are three essay assignments due in this course, all to be
short (1500 words, 5-6 pages). They are designed to be exercises
in the concise development of one argument, as opposed to indepth research papers. Length will not increase the likelihood
of a better mark. Students can choose to replace one of the
essay assignments by a seminar presentation.
Essay No. 1
Due date May 25.
1. Why do political crises in Canada take the form of
constitutional crises?
2. Compare and contrast western alienation with Quebec
nationalism. To what extent are these two phenomena similar and
different?
3. Was Quebec "excluded" from the 1982 constitutional agreement?
If so why, if not why not?
4. Was the Supreme Court of Canada correct to overturn Quebec's
Bill 101? Was Quebec correct to use the "notwithstanding clause"
to side-step this decision? Justify your argument with reference
to the 1982 constitutional controversy and the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
5. Meech Lake represented a concession to Quebec and, if passed,
would have fundamentally weakened the Canadian state. Discuss.
6. The fundamental flaw to the Meech Lake process was its lack
of democracy. The absence of effective participation from native
groups, women and the labour movement made it a fundamentally
flawed attempt at patching-up the Canadian constitution.
Discuss.
7. The opposition to Meech Lake had nothing to do with
"democracy" or protecting Canadian federal powers, but was a
conservative reaction against the "distinct society" clause.
Discuss.
8. The opposition to the distinct society clause is a sign of
growing intolerance in English Canada towards Quebec. Discuss.
9. Discuss the changing character of Quebec nationalism. What
impact has this had on the constitutional debates in the 1980s?
ESSAY No. 2
Due date, June 10
1. The rise of the Reform Party is a signal of the break-up of
the "two-nations" consensus on which Canada was founded.
Discuss.
2. The Reform Party's roots are in "western alienation". Compare
and contrast this with Quebec nationalism, seen as at the root
of the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois.
3. Political parties begin as ideological currents, but as they
"institutionalize", their ideology becomes less and less
important. Discuss.
4. How does the relationship of the New Democratic Party to
organized labour make it "different" from the traditional
parties in Canada?
5. Who rules -- the bureaucracy, the legislature, the judiciary
or a combination? Justify your answer with examples drawn from
the course.
6. The Morgentaler controversy was a social, poltical and
judicial crisis in Canada. Which aspect do you see as being the
most important?
7. The pressures on the abortion law were legal, moral,
political. Which of these lay behind the decision of the Supreme
Court to strike down the abortion law?
8. At least some abortions should be considered crimes. Discuss.
9. Abortion is a strictly personal decision that should be left
to the woman involved. The state has no business legislating
either for or against it. Discuss.
ESSAY No. 3
Due date, June 22
1. Canada is a dependency, and its history is that of a
satellite first of Britain, today of the United States. Discuss.
2. Canada is one of the richest and most powerful nations in the
world. The term "dependency" is meaningless to describe its
situation. Discuss.
3. Free trade with the United States was an inevitable step that
had to be taken to promote the long-term interests of the
Canadian economy. Discuss.
4. Free trade with the United States was the next to final step
in Canada losing its independence. Discuss.
5. Discuss the pros and cons of the moves towards free trade
with Mexico. On balance, do you support or oppose this move?
6. The Oka crisis symbolizes the re-emergence of the "other"
national question in Canada, the national question of our First
Nations. In your view, does this strengthen or diminish the
claims made by Quebec nationalists?
7. Should the First Nations have the right to selfdetermination?
8. With both the First Nations and Quebec pressing for some type
of autonomy, is there a future for a "united Canada"?