The Friendly Dictatorship

by Simpson, Jeffrey

• ISBN13: 9780771080784
• ISBN10: 0771080786
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart

Summary

Is Canada a dictatorship -- albeit a friendly dictatorship? This question may strike most readers as ridiculous. We have regular free elections, a free press, a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, no end of interest groups, and a number of ways to express dissent. Jeffrey Simpson argues, however, that the presence of partisan parliamentary debate should not obscure one fact: with the Liberal Party's re-election to a third majority government, Canada is in danger of becoming a de facto one-party state. Canada's Prime Minister now exerts more direct, unchecked power than the leader of any other parliamentary democracy, and while an effective parliamentary system presumes that at least one party is ready and capable of replacing the existing government, clearly, no party was ready in the last election. Now in paperback, with a new foreword that considers recent political developments, The Friendly Dictatorship tries to make sense of what has been happening in three areas that are vital to Canadian democracy: the parliamentary system, the political parties, and the electorate. Jeffrey Simpson delivers a message that is compelling and controversial -- a wake-up call that should be heardy by all Canadians. Book jacket.

Author Biography

<b>Jeffrey Simpson</b>, the <i>Globe and Mail</i>’s national affairs columnist, is one of Canada’s premier journalists. He has won several major prizes for his writing during his career at the <i>Globe and Mail</i>. In recognition of his contribution to journalism, in 2000, Simpson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Prime-Ministerial Government	1	(64)
Our Friendly Dictators	65	(70)
The Decline of Voting	135	(62)
Now What?	197	(40)
Further Reading	237