This paper is an attempt to describe developments in the European hatting industry as a background to the evolution of the North American beaver trade. Most studies of the fur trade trace the movement of the furs no further than the fur market; interest is centred on production and marketing with insufficient attention directed to the ultimate sources of the demand. Vague references to style changes usually suffice as explanations of long-run demand movements. There were, however, certain technological discoveries and evolutions in hat-making which underlie both the style changes and the long-run demand fluctuations. My intent is to examine these developments and to relate them to the Canadian fur trade.

The cornerstone of this essay is L'Art de faire des chapeaux, by M. I'Abbé Nollet, published at Paris in 1765. This mid-eighteenth century work examines the sources of raw materials, the methods of production, and the history of the French hatting industry. In order to understand the industrial background against which this book was written and to explain several of the references Nollet makes, it is necessary to begin with a history of the felt hat industry. In sketching this history I have drawn extensively on other sources. Some of the hypotheses advanced in Section I may be open to question; the evidence upon which they are based is fragmentary, and I have had to content myself with material in secondary sources. In later parts of the paper I shall compare L'Art de faire des chapeaux with the article on hatting in Diderot's Encyclopedia published in 1753.

This paper is concerned with the “General Possibility Theorem” of Dr. K. J. Arrow. Since the theorem is certainly elegant and probably important, it is proper as well as convenient to refer to it from this point on as Arrow's theorem. The theorem deals with the problem of discovering a rule by which social preferences can be constructed from individual preferences. Such a rule, or social welfare function, gives a social ordering of alternatives of any kind for every possible arrangement of the corresponding individual orderings. Arrow's theorem declares that no social welfare function exists that satisfies those conditions that most of us would consider essential to a satisfactory rule. The outcome is something of a shock to preconceptions.

In what follows two aspects of Arrow's theorem are considered. In the early part of the paper the theorem as such is examined. A brief and informal statement of Arrow's argument is followed by a formal statement of the conditions on which the argument depends. A proof of the theorem is offered that seems to be rather more naturally constructed than the original. A set of conditions is proposed (derived from Arrow's proof) that is weaker than the original set, that seems to be at least as plausible, and that leads to the same conclusion by a short and direct route. In the later part of the paper, methods of circumventing the theorem (there seems to be no way of removing it) are explored.

By way of a critical assessment of the leading authorities on the critics of the Judicial Committee, this article argues that the proper appreciation of what the law lords did to the terms of the BNA Act can be found in an understanding of their perception of their unique function. Supporters of the Judicial Committee's decentralization of the terms of the British North America Act have tended to rely on either G. P. Browne's book on the subject or Alan Cairns's article in this Journal (4 [1971], 301–45). The purpose of this article is to challenge those authorities and offer an alternative explanation.

Using data based on Quebec municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, this article tests the hypothesis that the conjunction of economic conditions and labour unrest contributed significantly to the defeat of the Liberal party in the 1976 Quebec election. This hypothesis, suggested by the results of the election polls, follows from the conceptual framework furnished by political economy models. These models and the controversies they have given rise to are discussed first from a theoretical perspective. This discussion is followed by a brief review of empirical studies which could shed light on these controversies. Much of the theoretical discussion and most of the empirical results suggest that economic conditions generally have a significant influence on election results.

In the second part of the article, after a methodological discussion, we present the results of empirical tests conducted to examine our hypothesis about the influence of economic conditions on the November 1976 general election in Quebec. These results show that increased “fiscal pressure” between 1975 and 1976, union unrest, and the unemployment rate in 1976 had significant negative effects on the Liberal vote.

We conclude by raising questions about the effect economic factors could have on the results of the referendum on sovereignty-association.

Less than justice has been done to Sir William Temple as a political scientist. It is true that his reputation now stands higher than it did in the nineteenth century when Courtenay, his biographer, observed, “Neither in science nor in politics, were his opinions founded upon an accurate combination of facts and principles,” and added, “Of Political Economy Temple knew nothing” and when Macaulay dismissed the essay on government as “exceedingly childish.” Three modern studies have done much to revise this unflattering estimate, but some aspects of Temple's political thought have remained unconsidered or confused. Professor Herriott in his analysis of Temple's ideas on government has pointed out the novelty of those ideas but has given little attention to the significance of Temple's approach and method. Dr. Marburg's excellent book, though it does not deal primarily with Temple's political ideas, has made a valuable contribution towards their understanding. But her views on Temple's attitude to science and his use of its method are open to question. Professor Woodbridge, in his recent very full study of Temple, praises “the astonishing originality” of the essay On the Original and Nature of Government, and remarks as its great merit that its argument is based “upon historical probability, observation and experience,” but he does not emphasize the inductive aspect of Temple's work nor discuss the relation of his political thought to the scientific movement. Apart from Professor G. N. Clark's explicit but passing references to Temple's significance as one of the first of the inductive political thinkers, the extent to which Temple participated in the prevailing scientific climate of opinion and was influenced by it has been generally overlooked or greatly underestimated.

Abstract. Although exit polling has not been used to study Canadian elections before, such polls have methodological features that make them a potentially useful complement to data collected through more conventional designs. This paper reports on an experiment with exit polling in one constituency in the 2003 Ontario provincial election. Using student volunteers, a research team at Wilfrid Laurier University conducted an exit poll in the bellwether constituency of Kitchener Centre to assess the feasibility of mounting this kind of study on a broader scale. The experiment was successful in a number of respects. It produced a sample of 653 voters that broadly reflected the partisan character of the constituency, and which can hence be used to shed light on patterns of vote-switching and voter motivations in that constituency. It also yielded insights about best practices in mounting an exit poll in the Ontario context, as well as about the potential for using wireless communication devices to transmit respondent data from the field. The researchers conclude that exit polling on a limited basis (selected constituencies) is feasible, but the costs and logistics associated with this methodology make a province-wide or country-wide study unsupportable at present.

Résumé. Bien que les sondages “sortie des urnes” n'aient pas été utilisés jusqu'ici dans l'étude des élections au Canada, de tels sondages possèdent certaines caractéristiques qui en font un complément potentiellement très utile des méthodes plus traditionnelles de cueillette des données. Cet article rend compte d'un sondage “sortie des urnes” expérimental effectué dans une circonscription lors de l'élection provinciale de 2003 en Ontario. Utilisant des bénévoles étudiants, une équipe de recherche de l'Université Wilfrid Laurier a conduit un sondage “sortie des urnes” à Kitchener Centre, une circonscription indicatrice de tendance, afin de déterminer la faisabilité de ce type d'étude au niveau fédéral. L'expérience a réussi à plusieurs égards. Elle a fourni un échantillon de 653 électeurs qui reflétaient en gros le caractère partisan de la circonscription, ce qui a rendu possible l'étude des motivations des électeurs et des revirements de vote dans la région. L'expérience a aussi fourni des renseignements sur les pratiques exemplaires concernant l'utilisation des sondages “sortie des urnes” au niveau provincial, ainsi que sur la possibilité d'employer des techniques de communication sans fil pour transmettre les données recueillies des répondants. Les chercheurs ont conclu que les sondages “sortie des urnes” sont réalisables dans un cadre restreint, dans certaines circonscriptions sélectionnées, mais que les coûts et la logistique nécessités par cette méthodologie la rendent actuellement impraticable pour une étude à l'échelle provinciale ou nationale.

In the past several years, a Royal Commission has reported on the automotive industry and a number of changes have been made in tariffs on automobiles and parts. Although the changes of late 1962 and late 1963 differed in detail from the recommendations of Dean Bladen in his Royal Commission report, they introduced in an alternative form the major innovation recommended by the report, namely, export incentives. By encouraging exports, and particularly exports of parts, the government hoped to stimulate Canadian employment, improve the current account balance, and contribute to the efficiency of the Canadian industry by making possible longer production runs.

Issues of great complexity were introduced by both the Bladen recommendations and the recent changes. Evaluation of their probable effects is made doubly difficult because of the previously existing system of import duties compounded with Canadian content requirements. Nevertheless, it is important that a detailed study be made of recent innovations, particularly as the three-year limit on the changes of late 1963 has made it clear that there will be a major review of policy in the near future. American objections to the innovations, and the possibility of retaliation, have further increased the importance of an evaluation.

Michael Oakeshott's contribution to political philosophy has been overshadowed by the widespread belief that the proper context for his writings is modern conservatism. The legend of Oakeshott's conservatism is shown to rest on a misunderstanding of the way in which his view of politics as a specific and limited activity is derived from a more general, sceptical account of the relation between belief and conduct. His scepticism here is not a Burkean rejection of the relevance of general beliefs, but a Humean call for “speculative moderation” appropriate to the occasion. This is not to say that Oakeshott's writings are without political significance. In fact, their significance lies in their powerful critique of modern conservatism in Europe and America.

Abstract. Identity politics have been much maligned by the Left as politically divisive and philosophically untenable. But the need for identification in the process of countering demeaned identities and fostering counter-hegemonic projects has been underestimated by poststructuralist critics. Good at dismantling identities and deconstructing existing strategies of inclusion, the poststructuralists are not particularly helpful in thinking through forms of subjectivity and/or collective action that would contribute to coalition building. Beauvoir provides a worthy model for coalitional politics. Her theory of relational subjectivity avoids essentialism and fosters collaboration, if that work is premised upon connected existences, rather than identity. Her theory of alterity, or Othering, acknowledges power differentials and accommodates both cultural and economic forces of oppression, moving away from static, centralized and binary relations of power that have become associated with second-wave feminism and conventional Marxism.

Résumé. La politique identitaire a été largement décriée par la gauche qui l'accuse de créer des dissensions et d'être philosophiquement insoutenable. Pourtant, le besoin d'identification dans le processus de soutien des identités dévaluées et de promotion de projets anti-hégémoniques a été sous-estimé par la critique post-structuraliste. Doués pour la déconstruction des identités et le démantèlement des stratégies d'inclusion, les post-structuralistes ont moins de talent pour concevoir des formes de subjectivité ou d'action collective qui contribueraient à la construction de coalitions. Simone de Beauvoir fournit un modèle précieux de politique de coalition. Sa théorie de la subjectivité relationnelle évite l'essentialisme et encourage la collaboration, si cet effort est basé sur des existences liées les unes aux autres plutôt que sur l'identité. Sa théorie de l'altérité reconnaît les différentiels de pouvoir et tient compte des forces oppressives, à la fois culturelles et économiques, abandonnant ainsi les rapports de pouvoir statiques, centralisés et binaires qui ont été associés avec le féminisme “ deuxième vague ” et le marxisme conventionnel.

Political parties have come to be accepted as at least a partial solution to the problem posed for the political system by the gap between society on the one hand and the state, the locus of decision-making authority, on the other. Generally, such questions as the social basis of party affiliation and the extent of participation of party supporters have been approached, at least by the major and best known studies of popular political participation in the United States, from the electoral side: a sample survey of a single community or a national electorate is made while an election campaign is in progress. Through such surveys, a substantial amount of information has been accumulated. In Canada few surveys have been conducted, and apart from the efforts of the Gallup poll no national sampling of the political community has been attempted for public consumption.

Partly because of the extensive range of his thought and partly because of the diffuseness of his style, Veblen is a difficult thinker to classify. Several writers have made passing references to traces of anarchism in his works but most of them consider it a minor aspect of his thought. The thesis of this paper is that Veblen's political and social thought can be most clearly understood and evaluated in terms of philosophical anarchism.

Anarchism is as old as society itself; at least it has been traced back to Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoic philosophy. The Greek derivation of the word is “without a ruler,” not “without order.” Elements of anarchism form a more important part of many political theories than is sometimes recognized, and it has found able exponents in Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tolstoy, Thoreau, and Whitman. What distinguishes the anarchists from other political philosophers is the degree to which they carry their attack on existing institutions and believe in a principle of harmony in nature or human nature which will emerge if these institutions are eliminated. This principle, if followed, will eliminate the need for coercion and the state which they think is based on coercion. Only voluntary functional associations will remain in the anarchist's society but the principle of harmony will prevent the emergence of chaos. Quite clearly this is a philosophy of extremes and suffers the advantages and disadvantages of such a philosophy. In a unique way it forces its critics to examine their fundamental assumptions afresh. But because of the extreme assumptions made, anarchists' writings in general, and Veblen's in particular, abound in contradictions between freedom and authoritarianism.

The aim of this study is to provide an empirical basis for theories about political coalitions formed to apply economic sanctions against a target country. An excellent example is the economic blockade of Cuba by the United States, during which successive Republican and Democratic administrations have pursued economic measures to achieve a political objective. This study investigates the degree of cooperation and cleavage among Washington's capitalist-bloc allies with this effort to establish multilateral economic pressures against the Cuban Revolution. The analysis suggests that, despite the growth of economic competition during the 1960s and 1970s, such strains were not reflected at the level of political relationships.

Indigenous peoples have, to varying degrees, turned to the courts to litigate their ongoing disputes with Canada's settler colonial governments. Scholars have examined well the ways courts are used for strategic political ends by a variety of Indigenous and non-Indigenous litigants and are laden with settler values and institutional logics that are foreign to Indigenous peoples. However, it is less clear what effect turning to the courts in pursuit of strategic goals has on specific relationships between Indigenous peoples. This gap is more pronounced in Métis scholarship where there have been few final appellate cases. This paper argues the interaction between the Manitoba Métis Federation and Treaty 1 peoples seeking leave to intervene at the Manitoba Court of Appeal in MMF v. Canada illuminates the way litigating Indigenous-settler disputes can advance divisive, exclusionary, zero-sum political relationships between Indigenous peoples. These fractious interactions serve to undermine the construction of a co-ordinated and related inter-Indigenous decolonizing politics.

There is no unifying theory to guide the study of partisan political staff. The literature suggests staffers may be variously mechanisms for resolving principal-agent problems, extensions of centralized political control or spoils given as rewards inside the core executive. Annual Public Accounts data, available only since 2007, offer a promising new addition to the debate over federal exempt staffs. This paper presents descriptive and linear regression results on staffing expenditures for five years of federal data in Canada. Using the construct of “revealed preference,” predictors of variance in ministerial spending on staffing may provide new, objective information on their function in Canadian government. Results of this study demonstrate that quantitative methods can be applied to the study of political staff and may be a helpful addition as the field continues to develop, test and refine theory.

This article examines how the changing environment faced by and context within the Canadian feminist movement is reflected in the beliefs and strategies of recruits to the movement at a given point in time. The framework for the investigation is Whittier's generational approach (1997) that posits that different political generations—defined as cohorts of recruits who join a social movement during distinctive periods of protest—introduce change to its collective identity given the formative experiences faced by each generation. Using an original large sample data set, I provide evidence that the changes experienced by the Canadian feminist movement from the 1980s onwards are reflected in noticeable shifts in the collective identity and activist strategies of subsequent waves of feminist recruits. The findings suggest that further research into cohort recruitment and replacement is essential for understanding the forces at play in shaping the contemporary Canadian feminist movement.

Abstract. A literature has emerged in American voting studies noting a “marriage gap”—the propensity for married voters to support the Republican party. Using Canadian Election Study data, we establish the existence of a significant marriage gap in Canada. We also seek to determine if the marriage gap is driven by socio-demographic factors or attitudinal ones. We find that while socio-demographic factors contribute to the marriage gap, they explain relatively little variance. In probing the attitudinal basis of the marriage gap further, we find that married Canadians differ from the unwed very strongly on issues of moral traditionalism, but much less so on other issues that measure generalized conservatism.

Résumé. Des travaux sont apparus dans les études américaines sur le vote remarquant l'existence d'un “écart mariage” (marriage gap) – la tendance des électeurs mariés à soutenir le parti républicain. Utilisant des données sur les élections nationales canadiennes, nous établissons l'existence d'un écart significatif au Canada. Nous cherchons aussi à déterminer si ce phénomène est poussé par les facteurs socio-démographiques ou les facteurs d'attitude. Nous constatons que bien que les facteurs socio-démographiques contribuent à cet écart, ils n'expliquent que relativement peu de variation. En recherchant davantage la base attitudinale, nous constatons que les canadiens mariés diffèrent très fortement de ceux qui ne sont pas mariés sur les questions de traditionalisme moral, mais cependant beaucoup moins sur les questions de conservatisme géneral.

Aggregate cross-national analyses of political participation have reported correlations between civic literacy, political knowledge and election turnout. Enhancing civic literacy among Canadian voters, in part by encouraging greater newspaper readership in the general population, has been put forward as a strategy for combating falling turnout in national general elections. The idea is evaluated comparatively at the level of individual voters, using data from the British Election Study. Newspaper readership is related to political knowledge, but increased newspaper reading does not translate into a greater propensity to vote.

Focus group research is a useful methodology within and beyond the field of political science, as a source of core or supplementary data. The focus group literature is rich and full of guidance, but advice on using digital tools in certain stages of focus group research is relatively scarce. Aiming to fill those gaps, this article draws on experience with two projects in order to outline how researchers can harness technologies for focus group recruitment and data analysis. While traditional recruitment and data analysis techniques are useful, we identify advantages of technology-assisted approaches, particularly for focus group research with marginalized communities. Geared to both new and existing focus group users, the article identifies fruitful ways to harness a wider range of technologies for conducting focus group research while maintaining consistency with established principles and practices.

I examined the use of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic to find out how many Twitter users started to follow relevant Canadian political and health authorities, and I investigated their activity and interests. To this end, I analyzed 398,037 Twitter accounts. The results reveal that the Twitter accounts of relevant authorities gained a significant number of new Twitter followers during the pandemic. The Twitter users who joined during the pandemic were rather passive; they tweeted and liked fewer tweets than Twitter users who registered in the months prior to the pandemic. They also chose to follow Twitter accounts predominantly related to news, politics and governmental agencies. These findings suggest that during the pandemic, numerous information-seeking citizens joined Twitter for the purpose of obtaining information about public health matters, which in turn suggests that authorities should incorporate Twitter into their information dissemination tools, especially during emergencies, to meet the public demand for information.