Canadian Politics
Title: Canadian Political Party Differences
The Liberal Party of Canada & the Reform Party of Canada: Platforms, Promises and Policies Examined
Extract: "Do Canadian political parties make a difference? This is a fundamental question that must be posed in regards to the Canadian political process; it is not merely a question of whether they do make a difference, but more a question of whether they are at all different from each other. Indeed, the most binding element of a democracy is electoral choice, but is there truly electoral choice in Canada? To achieve such choice there must exist considerable and understandable differences in political party bases of support, composition, ideology and outlooks as well as performance records in office. Does such diversity actually exist in Canada?"
Presented To: Dr. Andrew F. Johnson
Date Presented: November, 1998
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Title: Civic Society in Canada: Under Siege or Under Control?
Extract: "To say Canada lacks a civic culture entirely... is simply incorrect; the existence and growth of a multitude of community-type organizations in Canada paints a very different picture. While the civic culture in Canada may still be young and has many voids yet to fill and many links yet to build between disempowered Canadians, it most certainly exists. Likewise, Canada is home to a number of civic institutions, perhaps not as numerous or as noted as many age-old American civic institutions - those of volunteerism, higher education or community finance - but equally important relative to the Canadian context. A civic society is a society of community - and community is something Canada has in abundance from coast to coast."
Presented To: Dr. Andrew F. Johnson
Date Presented: November, 1999
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Title: Retail Petroleum Pricing Policy
In Canada
Extract: "...with each petroleum price increase the oil companies benefit from greater profit and the government benefits from greater tax revenues. But is there a limit to such benefits? Oil companies will receive more and more of the national expenditure on energy in the short haul, only to be undermined once alternative sources of vehicle propulsion are finally introduced en masse. Likewise, in the short term governments benefit from increased tax revenues, but face in the longer term a heightened rate of inflation and therefore a potential for economic slow-down or even recession. Clearly, it would appear that government seems at greatest risk, therefore it is incumbent upon the government to legislate policy capable of dealing with this problem. "
Presented To: Dr. Andrew F. Johnson
Date Presented: November, 1999
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Political Theory
Title: Liberty, Political Democracy and Constitutionalism in The new Russia
Extract: "... the former core of the Soviet empire has become the focal point of reform based on the ideas and concepts that have founded the largely successful political and economic systems of the West, notions rooted firmly in the sanctity of the liberty of man, in the common desire for democracy and the need for constitutional bounds."
Presented To: Dr. G. Tucker
Date Presented: November, 1998
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Comparative Politics
Title: German Foreign Policy toward the Soviet Union
at Reunification - A Policy Analysis
Extract: "Clearly, German foreign policy in regards to the Soviet Union entered a highly uncertain but also dynamic phase during the height of the reunification issue. The old ways of Ostpolitik had been replaced, in large part, by a friendlier and more pragmatic Realpolitik. German-Soviet relations via this policy were enhanced beyond a point seen at anytime prior in recent European history. Whereas German-Soviet relations had been at best characterized by a certain skepticism and suspicion of one another, not to mention outright fear at multiple times in this century alone, the period of German reunification allowed the two powers to converge on issues that neither could avoid."
Presented To: Dr. I. Myhul
Date Presented: November, 1998
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Title: Soviet Foreign Policy toward Germany at German Reunification - A Policy Analysis
Extract: "... the fall of the infamous Iron Curtain separating the two divergent worlds of East and West initially did not shake the stance of Soviet foreign policy towards Germany, a stance held firm for so many years... To a large extent, many of the changes [that ensued were] a result of a growing urgency in German reunification, the almost unstoppable momentum of German nationalism to re-unite, and the incapable Soviet structure to cope with the sudden and revolutionary changes abroad, especially in lieu of those drastic and daunting changes affecting the Soviet Union at home."
Presented To: Dr. I. Myhul
Date Presented: November, 1998
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Title:What it means to be an American - an examination of Michael Walzer's views of American pluralism and exceptionalism
Extract: "The character of the United States of America is one of diversity; a multiplicity of cultures abound in its cities, interact in communities, exchange values and beliefs and work side by side. Though the populist notion of America as the metaphorical melting pot remains a rigourously argued point of contention, Walzer believes in the plurality of America. It is not a single homogeneity; it represents something far greater and vastly more unique than most people, academics included, wish to attribute it."
Presented To: Dr. J.P. Masciulli
Date Presented: June, 1999
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Title: Elitism in America: An open and Plural Elite?
Extract: "... by being organized as a civil society, America is governed by an elite - a select group of executives, bureaucrats and civil servants who administer and operate the nation's business. The notion that a few are ruling the many frightens nearly all modestly empowered Americans; however, it is not an elite phenomena found only in America but in all societies.... But perhaps American elitism is somewhat different from some, if not all, of the others in existence. Is it really as elitist as it seems? By simply being an elite, must it be closed to others altogether? Does one have to be born into an elite family to be part of those select few in power? Is there room for more? Does that inspirational bit of Americana "from rags to riches" also apply to upward mobility in institutions of power?"
Presented To: Dr. J.P. Masciulli
Date Presented: August, 1999
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Title: Dutch Social Security Policy in the 1990s - A Policy Analysis
Extract: "Social security policy in the Netherlands has and continues to play a fundamental role in the functioning of the Dutch social welfare state. Although dramatic changes have occurred over the course of the last fifteen years, the founding principles of social security have remained, in large part, intact. Clearly, the involvement of the government in providing a social safety-net has been reduced considerably in recent years with a predominant trend toward privatization; nevertheless, it remains equally clear that the Dutch welfare state is far from collapse."
Presented To: Dr. I. Myhul
Date Presented: March, 1999
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Title: The Netherlands: A Country Profile
Summary: This article provides a political profile by examining Dutch political institutions, parties, elections and Dutch political problems; an economic profile analyses the Netherlands' economic situation and labour market conditions.
Presented To: Dr. I. Myhul
Date Presented: March, 1999
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Title: Social Security Policy in Canada:
The Global Impact
Extract: " Of greatest importance... is the effect of exogenous factors on the policy-making process and capability of Canada to shape and implement social policy.... the impact of globalization and its associated fiscal, monetary and employment influences on the domestic sphere of Canadian politics has eroded the policy-making capabilities of government, and as a result has ultimately shaped the creation, implementation and outcome of social security policy in Canada in the late 1990s and into the first decade of the 21st Century.".
Presented To: Prof. W. Hogg
Date Presented: March, 2000
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Title: Public Policy Analysis - Domestic and Multi-level Governance
Summary: Part 1 of this article suggests the primacy of the pluralist theory in explaining the domestuc policy process in the Canadian context; part 2 examines other theories and models regarding multi-level pressures (international) that affect the domestic policy process.
Presented To: Prof. W. Hogg
Date Presented: April, 2000
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International Relations
Title: Democracy unto the Earth, Liberty unto Mankind?
An examination of illiberal democracy at the turn of the Century
Extract: "World democratization has become the political cliché of the century, but what good is a free vote with nothing else attached? If every other basic civil, political, social and economic right is being trampled on, it is of little consolation that the stampeding forces in power were put there by the people. Clearly, in a multitude of instances, legitimately elected governments have ignored constraints to their power and have undermined or deprived citizens of their rights and freedoms."
Presented To: Dr. J.P. Masciulli
Date Presented: June, 1999
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Title: Labour and the North American Free Trade Agreement
Extract: "Forces of globalization, increasing competition and an interdependency of markets have all contributed to the undermining of labour standards and norms, most notably in Canada.... By virtue of its liberal deregulatory policies and free trade initiatives, the NAFTA has damaged the status of labour standards by emphasizing conformity in labour policy throughout the tri-national area, resulting in a downgrading of standards to meet the needs of multinational enterprises, using the lowest common labour denominator as the basis, that being Mexico. "
Presented To: Prof. W. Hogg
Date Presented: November, 1999
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Title: To Deter the Enemy: American Nuclear Strategy in the 1950s
Extract: "Clearly, the advent of nuclear weapons technology fractured the already fragile world political and military balance of power in the post-war era; however, the magnitude to which nuclear weapons - be they massive atom bombs, colossal hydrogen mega-bombs or warheads on the tips of missiles - would affect American policy decisions and initiatives in regards to the Soviet Union and the rest of the world remained uncertain."
Presented To: Dr. Andrew Stritch
Date Presented: February, 1999
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Title: To Deter Tomorrow: American Nuclear Strategy for the 21st Century
Extract: "Clearly, nuclear war is a concept that instills fear and extreme anxiety in anyone today just as it did during the Cold War - yet its likelihood is so seemingly minute that attention has been shifted over to other concerns when the real threats to US security today are far greater and more dispersed than ever before. As a result of this, it can be readily argued that, indeed, there is considerable justification in retaining American nuclear capability, perhaps in reduced numbers and in conjunction with increased conventional forces. In either case, the need for nuclear weapons in defending US interests domestically and abroad remains fundamental to the foreign policy aims of the United States."
Presented To: Dr. Andrew Stritch
Date Presented: March, 1999
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Title: Potential for Canadian Principal Power Status and Diplomacy within the Middle Power Framework
Extract: "The middle power framework offers a comfortable medium in which to place Canadian statecraft and diplomacy - in it, we can be neither a gun-toting coercive superpower nor a submissive chore-boy.... By virtue of the highly indisputable facts offered by both proponents of the foremost power approach as well as the dependent state theory, the middle power approach is a weak compromise. In any case, it affords a context in which to analyze the possibilities of future Canadian foreign policy evolution. Clearly, there exists a heightened potential for principal or foremost power status and diplomacy for Canada within the framework of the middle power perspective."
Presented To: Dr. J.P. Masciulli
Date Presented: December, 1998
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Title: The Nation-State and the MNE: A Struggle for Power
Extract: "It is universally recognized that the multinational enterprise, or MNE, bears at its core an endemic need for not only MNE-friendly state policies and certain natural, human and capital resources, but also carries with it the value-laden preference for small government and liberal democracy. Within this context, clearly, the nation-state has been undermined by the MNE in almost every vital area as the unchallenged authority within the international system. In this regard, the nation-state has become subservient to the needs and free-market hegemony of the multinational enterprise."
Presented To: Dr. A.F. Johnson
Date Presented: February, 2000
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Title: A World Without Work: The Challenges of the 21st Century
Extract: " While technology alone does not cause job losses per se, the changes in workplace structures, organization, attitudes, modes of production and servicing associated to technological change threaten the future employment of all people. Dealing with the end result, whenever it comes and to whatever extent, will surely require a re-imagining of the human experience - what it is, in fact, to be human and what purpose we ultimately serve in the workerless frontier.."
Presented To: Dr. A.F. Johnson
Date Presented: March, 2000
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Empirical Theory and Methods
Title: Support for Free Trade
A thing of the rich?
Extract: "Clearly, the most influential supporters for free trade were (and largely still are) government and the business community – notably the Canadian business people and organizations involved in multinational enterprises and other non-indigenous companies. Concomitantly, one can ascertain that free trade supporters tend to be of the business and otherwise economic elite in Canada.... This begs the impending question: is support for free trade predominantly derived from the wealthier people in Canada? Is free trade for the rich alone? Does support for free trade increase as income and level of education rises? "
Presented To: Dr. Andrew Stritch
Date Presented: December, 1999
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History
Title: The Economic Impact of the War: United States in the 1940s
Extract: "The economic impact of military mobilization and economic reconversion during the period that led to, included and followed the Second World War was, arguably, the key factor in pulling the US economy out of the abyss that was the Depression. In essence, the effects of the war and its aftermath were integral in the rejuvenation of the US domestic economy, and its associated rise to superpower status in the wake of the devastation the Second World War had unleashed upon much of Western Europe."
Presented To: Dr. L.-G. Harvey
Date Presented: April, 1999
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Title: The Decline of Montréal
Extract: "Despite the myths and populist notions, the 1976 election of the separatist Parti Quebecois to the National Assembly was not the sole reason for the decline of Montreal in terms of its economic and political position in relation to the rest of Canada.... decades of economic turmoil, social and political upheaval and decadence, demographic shifts and a general westward-bound centrality to the Canadian economy all contributed to Montreal's decline between the mid-1950s and early 1980s. Montreal's decline has been a long and merciless one that has not altogether abated - though at the turn of the century, there is hope on the horizon."
Presented To: Dr. L.-G. Harvey
Date Presented: November, 1999
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