The study of federalism, 1960–99: A content review of several leading Canadian academic journals

Abstract: A number of observers have suggested that there is a decline in the level of “traditional” federalism research undertaken in Canada. They contend that scholarly interest has shifted away from areas like fiscal federalism and the division of powers to newer areas of interest like social movements, identity politics and citizenship issues. An interdisciplinary review of a number of Canadian journals reveals, however, that studies in traditional areas of federalism are not in decline and continue to dominate the field in English‐language federalism scholarship. At the same time, the authors did not find a robust literature on federalism‐related issues in French for the forty‐year period under review. Sommaire: Un certain nombre d'observateurs semblent indiquer que le niveau de la recherche entreprise au Canada sur le féléralisme « traditionnel » a baissé. Us prétendent que les intelleduels se sont détournés des domaines comme le fédéralisme fiscal et la répartition des compétences pour s'orienter vers de nouveaux centres d'intérêt comme les mouvements sociaux, la politique identitaire et les questions relatives à la citoyenneté. Une étude interdisciplinaire d'un grand nombre de revues canadiennes révèle cependant que les études portant sur les secteurs traditionnels du fédéralisme ne sont pas en baisse et que ces secteurs continuent à faire l'objet de la majorité des bourses d'études en langue anglaise sur le fédéralisme. Par contre, nous n'avons pas parallèlement trouvé d'études importantes en langue française sur les questions liées au fédéralisme au cours de la période de 40 ans que nous avons étudiée.     

The Special Case of Pesticides: Science and Regulation

Pesticide regulation is a data-intensive activity that is strongly controlled at the federal level. The pesticide law FIFRA controls pesticide sale, use, and disposal. Normal use of pesticides is excluded under RCRA and CERCLA. There are approximately 1,000 pesticide active ingredients with highly diverse functions ranging from insecticides to disinfectants and pheromones (insect sex attractants). There is a relatively large database on many pesticides, which helps reduce uncertainty in risk assessments. Witnesses subject to Daubert should be familiar with the data as well as the computer models designed for pesticides. “Inert” ingredients that are formulated with the pesticide active ingredients can become issues in torts cases. Federal courts have ruled both in favor and against FIFRA preemption, i.e., the ability of a plaintiff to seek relief in a torts case may be blocked by FIFRA. Golf course permitting provides a special land use whereby fundamental pesticide risk and regulatory issues are debated at the level of local planning and zoning commissions.     

Making Hay with Actualism? The Need for a Realist Concept of Structure

This article criticises the ontological assumptions outlined in Colin Hay's recent book Political Analysis (2002). It takes issue with Hay's interpretation of critical realism, in particular his reading of the work of Margaret Archer. Furthermore, it is suggested that Hay's understanding of the structure-agency relationship contains weaknesses which have implications for both his theoretical and empirically-based work. It is argued that a more robust concept of social structure may be required to support the kind of critical political analysis Hay aspires to.     

Voting competitions with interested politicians: Platforms do not converge to the preferences of the median voter

We examine equilibrium voting strategies for elections with interested politicians facing uncertainty about voter pReferences. If politicians' utilities are defined over the set of strategies that voters select (instead of being dependent only on the probability of winning an election), equilibrium strategies will diverge (instead of converging to the median voter's pReferences) as long as politicians have different pReferences. We present conditions (i) for political compromise, and (ii) for politicians with different utility functions to merge into parties with complete strategic agreement.     

State Building, Interstate and Intrastate Rivalry: A Study of Post-Colonial Developing Country Extractive Efforts, 1975–2000

This paper seeks to understand the relationship between state building, interstate and intrastate rivalry. Previous studies of state building have focused primarily on the European experience, with selective application to cases in the developing world. Prior studies of interstate rivalry have focused primarily on their effects on interstate relations. This paper seeks to expand the domain of both literatures. First, the paper investigates the applicability of the predatory theory of the state, derived from the European experience, in the context of the postcolonial developing world. Second, the paper expands interstate rivalry research to an examination of the effects of both interstate and intrastate rivals on domestic politics. In particular, the literature derived from the European experience considers decisions about fiscal policy as central to the process of state building and survival. Therefore, this paper examines the effects of internal and external rivals on extractive capacity in the context of state development in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia from 1975 to 2000. A series of pooled, cross-sectional time-series analyses suggest that external and internal rivals increase the extractive capacity of the state in a manner similar to the experience of early modern Europe.     

Federal health care policy and the geographic diffusion of physicians: A macro-scale analysis

The federal government passed legislation in the 1960's and 70's to increase physician supplies and reduce spatial inequalities in access to physicians. A major policy was to aggressively continue increasing the overall supply of physicians on the assumption that market forces would eventually divert physicians from areas of high physician density to those of low density. Using state-level, annual data collected over a 21-year period, this paper investigates the macro-scale spatial diffusion of physicians as an essential element in evaluating this policy. The results provide evidence of the policy impacting locational trends relating to primary care physicians, but not specialists. They also indicate that the Medicaid/Medicare programs may have adversely affected the maldistribution problem.     

Reviews

Lyndall Ryan (ed.), ‘Secret Women's Business: The Hindmarsh Island Affair’, Special issue of Journal of Australian Studies (University of Queensland Press) Brisbane, no. 48, May 1996.

Gisela Kaplan, The Meagre Harvest: The Australian Women's Movement 1950s～1990s (Allen & Unwin) St Leonards, 1996.

R. Emerson Dobash, Russell P. Dobash and Lesley Noaks (eds), Gender and Crime (University of Wales Press) Cardiff, 1995.

Deborah Oxley, Convict Maids: The Forced Migration of Women to Australia (Cambridge University Press) Melbourne, 1996.

Elizabeth Grosz and Elspeth Probyn (eds),’ Sexy Bodies: The Strange Carnalities of Feminism (Routledge), London and New York, 1995.