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.

Two Swords and One Inch Apart?

Posted on 2011/07/28 by J.W.J. Bowden

If you’ve ever taken an official tour of the Parliament of Canada, the guide will normally present the House of Commons in the antechamber and explain the overall seating arrangements – that the government sits to the Speaker’s right, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Electoral Boundaries Readjustments, Parliament, Traditions and History | 11 Comments

Crowned Maces in the Legislatures of South Carolina and Virginia

Posted on 2011/07/18 by J.W.J. Bowden

I chose a British parliamentary mace as the header for Parliamentum, because the mace represents the Crown-in-Parliament (sometimes called the Queen-in-Parliament) and the authority of the Speaker and of the House of Commons to pass laws; it always points toward … Continue reading →

Posted in History of British North America, Parliament, Traditions and History | 7 Comments

Republican Ignorance of Parliamentarism and Constitutional Monarchy

Posted on 2011/07/17 by J.W.J. Bowden

While I emphasize parliamentarism, like most of my Whiggish predecessors, I support our current constitutional monarchy and Crown-in-Parliament as a system of government and oppose the argument that Canada ought to become a federal republic. Steve LaFleur wrote an excellent … Continue reading →

Posted in Monarchism v Republicanism | 4 Comments

“Confederation Day”: I Agree With Eugene Forsey On Something!

Posted on 2011/07/16 by J.W.J. Bowden

 I view the Canadian scholarship on issues like the appropriate extent of the governor general’s reserve power as a clash between two opposing camps whose basic positions have changed little, if at all, over the past eighty years. Only the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dominion Day, History of British North America, Parliament | 10 Comments

The Accidental Development of Cabinet Government

Posted on 2011/07/14 by J.W.J. Bowden

Our system of Westminster parliamentarism depends upon unwritten constitutional conventions. I will discuss my take on convention in further detail in subsequent posts, but generally, a constitutional convention evolves from a custom or practice that served a valuable purpose and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cabinet's Powers, Origins | 8 Comments