Author Archives: J.W.J. Bowden

Unknown's avatar

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.

Decorum in the Australian House of Representatives

Posted on 2011/10/03 by J.W.J. Bowden

I enjoyed these clips of Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating versus his various Liberal opponents, John Howard, Alexander Downer, etc., and more recently the appearance of “Cardboard Kev”.  Those in Canada who criticize the behaviour of our MPs call for … Continue reading →

Posted in Decorum | 3 Comments

Cabinet Appointments and By-Elections: Canada’s Lost History of Populism, Part 1

Posted on 2011/09/30 by J.W.J. Bowden

Peter Russell mentioned in his summary of the King-Byng Affair of 1926 that the old custom that parliamentarians appointed to cabinet would resign their seats and run in a by-election complicated the 15th Parliament even more than the gubernatorial-prime ministerial … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Democracy | 4 Comments

Presidentialism vs Parliamentarism in The West Wing

Posted on 2011/09/29 by J.W.J. Bowden

“The Wake Up Call” in season 6 of The West Wing features a sub-plot in which a Belorussian delegation came to Washington on a fact-finding mission so that they could write a new constitution for Belarus based on the American presidential … Continue reading →

Posted in Parliamentarism v Presidentialism | 10 Comments

Presidentialism vs Parliamentarism: The American Presidency

Posted on 2011/09/28 by J.W.J. Bowden

The Government of the United States of America just averted another shutdown because of failure to pass supply, or appropriations in the American lexicon. I established in earlier posts that the American form of presidential-congressional government is inherently irresponsible (in … Continue reading →

Posted in Parliamentarism v Presidentialism | 8 Comments

The Maple Crown and the Commonwealth Realms

Posted on 2011/09/22 by J.W.J. Bowden

On September 21, 2011, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an excellent new thinktank on public policy, hosted a presentation on a recently published book 1911: The Decisive Election that Shaped the Country precisely 100 years to the day when the results of … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences and Speeches, Monarchism v Republicanism, The Personal Union | 21 Comments