Problems of Constitutional Design in Canada
Quebec and the Issue of Bicommunalism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13782812 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Latouche (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Publication date | 1988-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Publius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a037705 |
| OpenAlex | W2027896646 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This article traces the attempts by Canada to redesign its federal constitution to reflect that political reality which most effectively distinguishes it from its American neighbor, namely, its bicommunal character. Reviewing various explanations for the constitutional impasse, notably that of a conspiracy by English-speaking provinces or of bad faith by the Québec provincial government, the author concludes that in the case of two territorially-based societies, constitution-making becomes a battleground where local elites strive to maintain societal autonomy and make use of governmental institutions to achieve their own objectives. Thus the retreat from bicommunalism, which has characterized the 1982 and 1987 constitutional reform exercises, should be seen not so much as a failure of federal-provincial diplomacy, but of the difficulties in accommodating two competing and mutually exclusive strategies of state-building
Autonomy · Character (mathematics · Constitution · Diplomacy · Faith · Federalism · Government (linguistics · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Canadian Identity and History · Law · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Public Administration · Social Sciences and Governance
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,07 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2009 (14) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |