A Dominant SNP in a Unionist Scotland? The 2019 UK General Election in Scotland

The UK general election in December 2019 produced a resounding victory for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, returning a majority government and the mandate for Brexit that he had campaigned for. The picture was less rosy for the Conservatives in Scotland, where his party lost half its seats to the SNP. This article reviews the election outcome in Scotland, considering the fortunes of each of the main parties, and projects forward to the devolved election in 2021, when the parties will once again debate the key constitutional question in Scotland.     

Applying regression discontinuity designs to American political development

Public Choice - Students of American political development (APD) have long been interested in questions related to the development of “state capacity” in the United States. The apparent...     

The Mills report,the Manley subsidy proposals,and the business of major‐league sport

Abstract: This article examines the debates over subsidies to professional sports teams that have been the focus of much attention and passion in Canada over the past several years, debates that led to the report by Dennis Mills,Sport in Canada: Everybody's Business, and to John Manley's ill‐fated proposals to offer subsidies to Canadian professional sports operators. The article reviews the arguments put forward by the sports industry: that major‐league hockey and baseball teams make substantial economic contributions, both directly and indirectly, to the cities in which they are located and that Canadian teams, especially those based in smaller cities, need substantial reductions in their public costs (taxes and/or rents) in order to “level the playing field” with their US. competitors. The authors argue that the commissioned studies on which these claims are based systematically overstate the economic impacts of professional sports and are not supported by independent research. The authors also argue that the difficulties facing Canada's “small market” teams are not primarily the result of higher taxes; rather, they follow from changes in the sports industry over the last decade (notably, much higher player salaries). This means that in order to remain competitive, teams must be able to generate far greater revenues than were needed only a decade ago. When one examines the new economy of professional hockey, in particular, with its heavy reliance on local television and advertising revenues and on the purchase of luxury seating by the local corporate sector, it is hard to avoid concluding that even with public subsidies teams based in provincial Canadian cities may no longer be able to compete in the major leagues. Finally, the authors consider the cultural argument that nhl hockey is a Canadian tradition and warrants support on “heritage,” as opposed to economic, grounds. However, the authors conclude that both professional sports and Canada have changed so much in recent decades that commercial sport is not an appropriate candidate for public subsidy. Sommaire: Dans cet article, on examine la question des subventions aux équipes de sports professionnels qui a fait l'objet d'un vif débat au Canada au cours de ces dern‐ières années. Ce débat avait entraîné le rapport de Dennis Mills,Sport in Canada: Everybody's Business, et les propositions soumises ans succès par John Manley pour offrir des subventions aux exploitants de sports professionnels au Canada. On y présente les arguments du secteur des sports: les équipes de hockey et de baseball des ligues majeures font un apport économique direct et indirect considérable aux villes oú elles se trouvent, et les équipes canadiennes, surtout celles basées dans des villes plus petites, ont besoin d'une réduction substantielle de leurs coûts publics (impôts et/ou loyers) afin d'égaliser le terrain de jeu par rapport à leurs concurrents américains. Selon les auteurs, les études commanditées qui justifient ces prétentions exagèrent systématiquement les retombées économiques des sports professionnels et elles ne sont pas appuyées par des recherche indépendeants. Par ailleurs, les difficultées auxquelles font face les équipes de petit marché au Canada ne découlent pas d'une forte impositoin mais plutôt de l'évolution survenue dans l'industrie du sport au cows de cette dernière décennie (notamment, la forte hausse du salaire des joueurs). Pour rester concurrentielles, les équipes doivent recueillir un revenue très supérieur à celui d'il y a dix ans. Lorsqu'on examine la nouvelle économie du hockey professionnel en particulier, fortement tributaire du revenue prodigué par la télévision et la publicité locales et de l'achat de siges au prix fort par les entreprises de la localité, il est difficile d'éviter la conclusion que, même avec des subventions publiques, les équipes basées dans des villes provinciales au Canada auront du mal à survivre dans les lques majeures. Enfin, les auteurs examinent l'argument culturel voulant que le hockey de la lnh soit une tradition canadienne qui mérite d'être appuyée à titre patrimonial plutôt qu'économique. Leur conclusion: les sports professionnels et le pays lui‐même ont tellement évolué ces dernières décennies que le sport commercial n'est pas un candidat valable pour des subventions publiques.     

The South AfricdCanada Program on Governance: an experiment in supporting democracy

Abstract: The South Africa/Canada Program on Governance is a am‐funded initiative that assisted South Africa's transition to democracy in 1993 and 1994 and since then has supported the country's leaders in building the basic systems of government. It has done this by making available to senior South African elected and appointed officials Canadian public‐service practitioner advice, focusing always on the key people, key places, and core processes of government. The program has provided advice on constitutional arrangements, the establishment of a representative public service, support to the centre of government, planning and budgeting, and services delivery through its special advisers resident in Johannesburg, through workshops, through study visits to Canada for South Africans, and through the assignment of Canadian public servants to carry out projects in South Africa. Much of its work has been carried out under the auspices of twinning arrangements between six Canadian provinces and six South African provinces and their respective national departments of public works. As the program draws to an end, the authors, two of the program's special advisers, argue that in addition to providing important assistance during the transition to democracy, the program has been successful in a number of identifiable ways by supporting good governance in South Africa. They also argue that there is good reason for continued Canadian assistance in this area. Sommaire: Le Programme de gouvernance sud‐africain, une initiative financée par l'ACDI, a facilité en 1993 et 1994 l'évolution démocratique de l'Afrique du Sud et a aidé les leaders de ce pays àériger les systèmes essentiels de gouvemement. Le Programme a réalisé cela en offrant aux cadres supérieurs et aux élus sud‐africains les conseils de praticiens de la Fonction publique canadienne, en se concentrant chaquefois sur les personnes‐clé, les endroits‐clé et les processus fondamentaux du gouvernement. Grâce aux efforts de conseillers spéciaux à Johannesburg, à des ateliers, aux voyages d'études du Sud‐Africains au Canada et à l'affectation de fonctionnaires canadiens à des projets en Afrique du Sud, le programme a prodigué des conseils sur les arrangements constitutionnels, la mise sur pied d'une Fonction publique représentative, le soutien aux organismes centraux du gouvernement, la planification et la budgétisation ainsi que la prestation de services. Les activités du Programme ont été réalisées grâce au jumelage de six provinces canadiennes à six provinces sud‐africaines, ainsi que des ministères des travaux publics respectifs des deux pays. Sous sa forme actuelle, le programme viendra àéchéance bientot. Selon les auteurs, deux des conseillers spéciaux du programme, ce dernier a réussi à favoriser la bonne gouvernance en Afrique du Sud en plus d'aider le passage à la démocratie. Toujours don eux, il serait judicieux de continuer à offrir de l'assistance canadienne dans ce domaine.     

A Social Democratic Future? Political and Institutional Hurdles in Scotland

The Nordic model has long been admired in Scotland, and has featured prominently in aspects of the Scottish independence referendum debate. This article explores the difficulties in instituting a similar system here, identifying two significant barriers: the institutional setting (the powers available to Scottish politicians) and the partisan nature of competition between the two parties that might be able to deliver upon such a commitment. It concludes that the prospects of moving towards a Nordic‐style social investment model are slight, given the political, institutional and attitudinal barriers in place.