Canadian Confederation and the Influence of American Federalism

Bibliographic Data

ID6237092
AuthorsJennifer Smith-Merry (0000-0002-6705-2652, Dalhousie University, corresponding author), Jennifer Smith (0000-0001-6825-7118)
Year1988
Volume21
Issue3
Pages443-464
Publication date1988-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0008423900056778
OpenAlexW2099174227
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited7

How did the Fathers of Canadian Confederation understand United States federalism? What lessons did they presume to draw from it and how did they apply them to the Confederation project? In this article, James Madison's comprehensive test of federalism, as set out in the thirty-ninth paper ofThe Federalist, is used as a tool to examine the Canadians' views of American federalism, particularly in relation to the questions of state sovereignty and the role of an upper chamber. The article suggests that their preoccupation with the threat of state sovereignty led them to concentrate on division of powers issues and, as a result, to pay little attention to the federal possibilities of a second chamber. And it concludes that, because they were working with a parliamentary model of government, not a republican one, these possibilities were not—and are not now—as promising as some political scientists suggest

Cooperative federalism · Dual federalism · Federalism · Federalist · Government (linguistics · New Federalism · Ninth · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Political Theory and Influence · Public Administration

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