Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:16:28.248Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Parliamentary Careers in the Canadian Federal State*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Doreen Barrie  and
Roger Gibbins
Doreen Barrie
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Roger Gibbins
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The authors examine the political career paths followed by the 3,803 individuals who served in the House of Commons and/or Senate between 1867 and 1984 inclusive. Given Joseph Schlesinger's argument that career patterns significantly affect political integration in federal states, particular attention is paid to the provincial experience of national parliamentarians, and to variations in that experience over time and across regions. The data show that national recruitment from provincial legislatures has declined over time, and is particularly uncommon in Ontario and Quebec. Overall, the structure of political careers in Canada is bifurcated rather than integrated; politicians do not move through the ranks but rather face a choice between provincial or national careers.

Résumé

Les auteurs examinent la carrière politique de 3803 personnes qui ont été membres de la Chambre des Communes canadienne et/ou du Sénat canadien entre les années 1867 et 1984 inclusivement. Tenant compte de l'argument de Schlesinger qui indique que les différents types de carrière affectent de façon significative l'intégration politique dans les états fédéraux, cette étude examine aussi avec attention l'expérience provinciale des parlementaires nationaux ainsi que les différents types d'expérience suivant l'époque ou la région. Les données montrent que le recrutement national dans les législatures provinciales a baissé au cours des années et est très peu courant, en particulier en Ontario et au Québec. En général, la structure des carrières politiques au Canada n'est pas intégrée, elle a deux voies; les hommes politiques ne gravissent pas les échelons, ils doivent faire un choix entre une carrière provinciale ou nationale.

Type
Notes
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 1989 , pp. 137 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Schlesinger, Joseph A., Ambition and Politics: Political Careers in the United States (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1966).Google Scholar

2 Ibid., 195.

3 Ibid., 201.

4 Gibbins, Roger, Regionalism: Territorial Politics in Canada and the United States (Toronto: Butterworths, 1982)Google Scholar; Harder, V. Peter, “Career Patterns and Political Parties at the National and Sub-National Level in the United States and Canada,” in Gaboury, Jean-Pierre and Hurley, James Ross (eds.), The Canadian House of Commons Observed (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1979), 327–45Google Scholar; March, Roman R., The Myth of Parliament (Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1974)Google Scholar; Smiley, Donald V., Canada in Question: Federalism in the Eighties (3rd ed.; Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1980).Google Scholar

5 In total, 73 per cent of the cases were coded through the Directory of Parliament, 19 per cent through the Parliamentary Guide, and 8 per cent through a combination of both sources.

6 In total, 226 individuals (5.9%) held seats in a pre-Confederation legislative assembly or executive council before entering Parliament, 71 of whom moved directly to the Senate without passing through the House of Commons.

7 An additional 6.2 per cent of the MPs and senators had run unsuccessfully for provincial office.

8 Cairns, Alan C., “The Other Crisis of Canadian Federalism,” Canadian Public Administration 22 (1979), 175–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar