APS 223: Sociology of Canadian Society

In The United States and Canada, Paul J.Quirk has gathered a distinguished cast of contributors to present an integrated comparative examination of the political systems of the United States and Canada-with special attention to the effects of political institutions and their interaction with political values, geographic and demographic factors, and other influences. The volume explores the differences between the American presidential (or separation-of-powers) system and the Canadian parliamentary system-focusing on electoral and party systems, executive leadership and the legislative process, bureaucratic influence, and federalism.

This book investigates why and how the United States and Canada--while so close and seemingly so similar--remain different in so many ways. The fourth edition features new chapters on taxation, revenues, and budgets; health care; banking and financial regulation; legislatures; foreign policy; prime ministers and presidents; and state-province comparisons.

Tracing Canadian-American relations, shared values, and differences through the centuries, Bothwell suggests that Americans are neither unique nor exceptional, in terms of both their good characteristics and their bad ones. He brings this contention down to the present day by examining Canadian and American differences over such questions as universal health care in domestic policy and the Iraq war in foreign policy. What happens in Canada often reflects what has happened in the United States, but by the same token, what happens in Canada signals what could happen in its American neighbor.

Are we fated to become Americans in a generation or two? This author challenges the myth of inevitability that has led us to believe our Canadian way of life is doomed to extinction. Drawing upon a decade of pulse-taking from both sides of the border, he reveals that Canada and the United States are diverging in significant ways. From the vehicles we buy to the deference we pay to authority, Canadians prove to be firmly separate in their attitudes and opinions.

The authors look at differences between Canada and the U.S. in relation to six contemporary moral issues: abortion, capital punishment, gun control, marijuana, pornography, and same-sex relations.