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The Origins of Canadian and American Political Differences
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Jason Kaufman
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2009
About this book
Why do the United States and Canada have such divergent political cultures when they share one of the closest economic and cultural relationships in the world? Kaufman examines the North American political landscape to draw out the essential historical factors that underlie the countries’ differences.
Reviews
An imaginative, insightful, and persuasive study. In a powerful argument not stressed by previous writers, Kaufman shows that political culture does not precede law and institutions, rather it follows from them. The United States unfolds as a contentious, litigation-oriented, property-centered society, with a deep distrust of government, while Canadian society is marked by fewer disputes over land rights, less resort to the courts, and more focus on negotiation, bargaining, brokerage, and compromise. This book is both a wonderfully engaging read and an important work of scholarship.
-- Richard Simeon, University of Toronto
-- Richard Simeon, University of Toronto
Kaufman offers comparative histories of the two countries' different trajectories through lively and richly detailed narratives that will fascinate anyone interested in U.S. or Canadian history, while presenting a new argument that contributes significantly to longstanding debates. His innovative analysis argues that the national differences derive in significant ways from divergent developments of legal orders. Kaufman has much to say about civic and political culture, narratives of nationhood, the new historical institutionalism, and the historical sociology of law.
-- John R. Hall, University of California, Davis
-- John R. Hall, University of California, Davis
Working in the grand tradition of Seymour Martin Lipset and Louis Hartz, Kaufman offers an ambitious comparison of the political development of Canada and the United States. His original contribution is to argue that different ways of legislating the right to incorporate explains a number of cross-national differences. Provocative and full of interesting ideas, this book will renew debates on the causes and extent of the divergences and convergences between the two nations--on both sides of the 49th parallel.
-- Michèle Lamont, Harvard University
-- Michèle Lamont, Harvard University
How can the two main offshoots of British North America, Canada and the United States, be so different despite their similarities? Kaufman's rigorous, perceptive, highly illuminating study locates the reasons for divergence in very specific differences in political and legal institutions—structures of federalism, policies and patterns of Western settlement, and regulation of associations. This book is a great example of comparative legal history written with clarity, subtlety, and a deep understanding of both societies.
-- Robert Gordon, Yale Law School
-- Robert Gordon, Yale Law School
There are interesting ideas here that can help to explain why Canadian attitudes to, say, guns or abortion are so very different from those in the U.S.
-- J. L. Granatstein Choice
-- J. L. Granatstein Choice
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Preface
ix -
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Introduction
1 -
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1 Origins of the Colonial System
25 -
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2 Expansion and Contraction
50 -
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3 Two Turning Points
80 -
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4 The Birth Pangs of Nationalism
98 -
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5 Nationhood Begins, and Almost Ends
129 -
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6 Federalism Suborned
154 -
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7 Completing the Journey West
185 -
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8 Nations Reborn
240 -
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9 The Vagaries of National Political Development
274 -
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Conclusion
296 -
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Notes
309 -
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Index
357
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 16, 2009
eBook ISBN:
9780674274457
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
382
eBook ISBN:
9780674274457
Audience(s) for this book
Professional and scholarly;
