Author Archives: J.W.J. Bowden

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About J.W.J. Bowden

My area of academic expertise lies in Canadian political institutions, especially the Crown, political executive, and conventions of Responsible Government; since 2011, I have made a valuable contribution to the scholarship by having been published and cited extensively. I’m also a contributing editor to the Dorchester Review and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law.

Changing Canada’s Capital City: Section 16 of the Constitution Act, 1867

Posted on 2019/07/14 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction Over the last five weeks or so, two of my closest constitutional compatriots have independently of one another brought up the same issue with me on the subject of section 16 of the Constitution Act, 1867, so I thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution (Written), Crown (Powers and Office), History of British North America | 8 Comments

Sir John Major’s Hypocrisy on Prorogation: The Courts Have No Authority to Stop It

Posted on 2019/07/12 by J.W.J. Bowden

Something about prorogation seems to bring out a toxic mixture of anger and ignorance. Brexit and Prorogation The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, 2011 put the prerogative over dissolution as well as the established constitutional position of the Queen and Prime Minister … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Prorogation | 11 Comments

Alpine Madness: Austria Takes The Caretaker Convention to the Extreme

Posted on 2019/07/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction A series of strange events has recently befallen Austria. It began with political scandal and the collapse of the coalition government between Sebastian Kurz’s People’s Party and Heinz-Christian Strache’s Freedom Party and ended a few weeks later with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constructive Non-Confidence, Government Formation in Germany & Austria | 2 Comments

No Prorogation: The Long Parliamentary Sessions in Canada and the United Kingdom

Posted on 2019/06/09 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction The 42nd Parliament of Canada and the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom have something in common: both of these current parliaments (as of 9 June 2019) are still on their first sessions. In Canada, no one but me … Continue reading →

Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), Prorogation | 4 Comments

Policy Options and Electoral Reform in Quebec

Posted on 2019/05/01 by J.W.J. Bowden

Some of you might be interested that Policy Options published “Quebec Poised to Adopt Proportional Election System,” an updated version of my piece on why Premier Legault is serious about switching Quebec to mixed-member proportional representation; some of you might not. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Electoral Reform, Reform | Leave a comment