Buch, Englisch, 414 Seiten
An Introduction
Buch, Englisch, 414 Seiten
ISBN: 978-0-19-541503-2
Verlag: Oxford University Press
Canadian Democracy explores the complexities, characteristics, and controversies associated with the country's politics. The book introduces the reader to basic ideas, institutions, and policies associated with Canadian politics and asks about the nature of Canadian democracy, focusing on issues of equality and freedom. Chapters on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, language politics, and gender cover three issue areas at the core of contemporary debates on the quality of Canadian democracy. Canadian Democracy has two basic goals. Like any textbook, it attempts to cover all the basic elements of Canadian politics and government, providing the reader with the information and concepts needed for more specialized study of the subject. With this in mind, Brooks has included chapters on the nuts-and-bolts structures of Canadian government (the constitution, federalism, the machinery of government) and others on key features of the political process (interest groups, the media, political parties). As well, the first two chapters are devoted to fundamental concepts on the study of politics and to the role of ideas in Canada's political system. The second goal of Canadian Democracy is to convey to the reader the complexities and controversies associated with democracy. Chapter 1 examines the contested meaning of the term 'democracy', focusing on its two key themes, equality and freedom. These themes resurface in subsequent chapters, particularly in the chapters in rights and freedoms, language, and gender. Other chapters examine controversies about access, influence, and most fundamentally, who wins and who loses from the institutions and processes of Canadian politics. This new, third edition of Canadian Democracy has been updated and revised throughout, and includes material and data covering the 1997 Federal election. It also includes review questions at the end of each chapter which are designed to be hands-on exercises requiring students to apply what they have learned and to use practical research skills. Many of these exercises are geared toward the media, particularly newspapers, television, and the Internet. A glossary of key terms has also been included in this edition to provide students with definitions for concepts that may sometimes be unfamiliar and which are important to the understanding of the material covered in this text.
Canadian Democracy explores the complexities, characteristics, and controversies associated with the country's politics. The book introduces the reader to basic ideas, institutions, and policies associated with Canadian politics and asks about the nature of Canadian democracy, focusing on issues of equality and freedom
