Category Archives: Separation of Powers

A New Year’s Resolution for Political Scientists: Stop Saying That Parliamentarism “Fuses” The Executive and Legislature

Posted on 2017/12/31 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction: A Lazy and Stupid Metaphor  Political scientists like taking shortcuts and writing in shorthand. But sometimes, these cause them to get hopelessly lost rather than shortening their journey toward fact and truth. For instance, too many political scientists of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reaffirmation of, Responsible Government, Separation of Powers | 4 Comments

A Classical Liberal Defence of Constitutional Monarchy

Posted on 2017/07/20 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction: The Strange Americanism of Canadian Libertarians  Since 2011 when I attended one of the Institute for Liberal Studies’ Liberty Summer Seminars (LSS), I’ve noticed that Canadian libertarians often demonstrate a strange American streak, and that their understanding of constitutions and … Continue reading →

Posted in Monarchism v Republicanism, Parliamentarism v Presidentialism, Responsible Government, Separation of Powers | 5 Comments

Why The Finance Minister Is the Most Important After the Prime Minister

Posted on 2017/04/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

  Introduction If you asked Canadians, Britons, or Australians which minister is the most important after the prime minister, you would almost invariably get the same answer: the Finance Minister — known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commonwealth Realms, Comparative, Parliamentarism v Presidentialism, Responsible Government, Separation of Powers | 3 Comments

On Collective Ministerial Responsibility and Impeachment

Posted on 2017/01/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction: Ian Brodie’s Article in The Dorchester Review Ian Brodie, one of Stephen Harper’s former chiefs of staff who served him both as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition and as Prime Minister, contributed an interesting article to the most recent … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles and Books, Censure or Impeachment of Ministers, Confidence Convention, Constitutional Conventions, Dorchester Review, History of British North America, Individual vs Collective Ministerial Responsibility, Parliament, Parliamentary Privilege, Responsible Government, Reviews, Separation of Powers | 6 Comments

The House of Commons Should Not Authorize Military Deployments

Posted on 2016/09/11 by J.W.J. Bowden

On 8 September 2016, Maxime Bernier criticized the Trudeau II government on his official Facebook group for having decided not to put the deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces to UN operations in Africa to a vote in the House … Continue reading →

Posted in Cabinet's Powers, Crown (Powers and Office), Separation of Powers | 2 Comments