Representative Government: Charting the Troubled Waters

Reviews Representative Government: Charting the Troubled Waters AFTERMEECHLAKE: LESSONSFOR THE FUTURE. Eds. David E. Smith, Peter MacKinnon , andJohn C. Courtney. Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers, J99J. 257pp. HOW OTTAWA SPENDS: THE POLJTJCS OF FRAGMENTATION J99J-92. Ed. Frances Abele. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, J99J. 377pp. ABSENT MANDATE: JNTERPRETJNG CHANGEIN CANADJANELECTIONS, 2nd. ed. Harold D. Clarke, Jane Jenson . Lawrence leDuc, and Jon H. Pammett. Toronto: Gage Educational Publishing Company, J99J. J67pp. GRASSROOTSPOLJTJCJANS: PARTYACT !VJSTS JN BRJTJSH COLUMBJA. Donald E. Blake, R.K. Carty, and Lynda Erickson. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1991. 155pp. REGJONAL MJNJSTERS: POWERAND INFLUENCE JN THE CANADJAN CABINET. Hemian Bakvis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991. 378pp. In words which may strike a contemporary audience as remarkably prescient, the late Norman Ward once observed that "Representation is ... clearly a term susceptible to conflicting interpretation."' Despite the passage of time there is much in this deceptively simple statement for students of modern political li fe to reflect upon. While Ward was absorbed in the task ofmerging the theories ofthinkers like Mill and Burke with the complexities of parliamentary government , more recent scholarship is struggling to overcomedifferent hurdles. Contemporary observers encounter a dramatically altered environment where both the virtues of parliamentary institutions and the understandings of Mill and Burke are called into question. Defining the scope of what con136 stitutes political representation has become a source of heated debate. Within the definitional conflict lie contending understandings of political traditions, of individual and community self-identity, and ofthe dispersement ofpolitical rewards in majoritarian electoral systems. The existence of differing interpretations is not, however, the only factor complicating the picture. Also present is publicdistrust ofpolitical leaders and their motivations. Members ofParliament and the traditions ofexecutive federalism are viewed with scepticism while topics such as constituent assemblies and direct democracy are held up as preferred options by enthusiastic adherents. Proponents of such options suggest that they would allow the general public to have more direct input into the assessment of constitutional and policy proposals. One indication of the importance of representation issues can be found in the report of the Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, wherein it was announced that "One ofthestrongest messages the Forum received from participants was that they have lost their faith in both the political process and their political leaders."2 An atmosphere ofdistrust or despair can only serve to complicate the already difficult task ofrepresenting Canada's heterogeneous population. Eachofthe works reviewed in this essay deals with issues relating to the representation of Canadian society's diverse interests. The resulting collective portrait reveals deep rifts and only limited patches ofcommon ground. Points ofagreement do appear but, in the end, Ward'sjudgement remains as accurate today as the day it was written. The experienceassociated with constitutional negotiations have given rise to someof the largest outcries concerning the openness ofour political system to public involvement. Several of the pieces in the collection After Meech lake: lessons_for the Future endeavour to understand these grievances and draw lessons from them. Alan Cairns tackles the issue of public involvement directly in his essay, "The Charter, Interest Groups, Executive Federalism, and Constitutional Reform." He argues that insufficient attention has been paid to the issues associated with creating a role for the public in the negotiation Revue detudes ca11adie11nes Vol. 27. No. 2 (Ete 1992 Summer) and ratification ofagreements. "The public role is not always incorporated into the process , butsometimesemerges in spiteof it, as a reaction to what governments thought was a fait accompli" (20). Slow to realize the importanceofthe transformation wrought by the 1982 Constitution Act's provisions for review of constitutional amendments by legislative assemblies, federal and provincial governments are now scrambling to devise ways of involving the public (I 8-19). In the end, Cairns leaves readers with questions to contemplate as well as a suggestion that "A degree ofprocedural predictability erring on the side ofopenness would surely mute some ofthe rancour and ill-temper that now derives from attempted exclusion, insecurity, and uncertainty" (28). Oneofthe sources ofunpredictability for various contributors to the volume is the role of individuals alleging to speak for differing communities. Some query the stature accorded to individuals aspiring to speak for large communities such as women (Cairns, 28; Smith...