LE3 .A278 1999

1999

Stewart, Ian

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

Political Science

Politics

Given that parties control the executive and legislative branches of Canada's federal and provincial governments, we would expect the party system to influence the distribution of state authority between Ottawa and the provinces. In other words, the party system should play a role in determining the degree of centralization in Canadian federalism. The purpose of this thesis is to assess party's contribution to the Canadian federal equation. More specifically, does the party system act to preserve or undercut the federal/provincial power-sharing that defines Canadian federalism? As a means of addressing this question, this thesis conducts a Canadian test of William Riker's party-causality thesis. According to Riker, the survival of a federal system hinges upon the party system's defense of the federation's weaker partner. Party's defense of provincial order interests prevents a centralized federation from evolving into a unitary state; whereas party's defense of federal order interests prevents a decentralized federation from devolving into a confederation. Ultimately, Riker's thesis does not withstand testing in the Canadian laboratory. Nevertheless, the process of examining Riker proves valuable to the creation of a new causal model for analyzing party's influence on federal centralization. Building upon Riker's efforts, this causal model permits measurement of the party system's affect on Canadian federalism over the last generation. The conclusion: the contemporary Canadian party system acts to exacerbate the decentralization of Canadian federalism.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:2840