From Corporatism to Associationalism: Linking State and Society, and Deepening Democracy, in the Canadian Polity

Abstract

Canada has had less experience than most developed nations with efforts to deepen democratic accountability through formal state-society links in policy-making and implementation. Nevertheless, experiments with such mechanisms have become more common since the early 1990s. This article examines these and assesses their future prospects. Reforms have either been corporatist, implying a careful balancing of business and labour interests in arrangements that mirror those created in some Western European nations; or associational, smaller in scale and more flexible in design. The impediments to successful corporatist initiatives are substantial in Canada; they are rooted in the country’s Westminister style of parliamentarism and in a societal setting where class organizations are fragmented and organized labour relatively weak. Consequently, there has been a trend towards associational reforms in recent years, or towards corporatist initiatives that are modest in scale. With the partial exception of Quebec, only efforts of this type have had much chance of success. While even smaller scale initiatives often fail, the article argues that they address important “compatibility problems” encountered by governments in Canada today. Consequently, we are likely to see more of them in the future.

Industry Business Associations: Self-Interested or Socially Conscious?

“…Countries that have had neocorporatism at some point or in some form, include Britain and Germany, and more recently Ireland, Italy, and Portugal (Boucher and Collins 2003;Lijphart and Crepaz 1991;Traxler 2004;Wilson 2003). There have been numerous other countries (up to 24 in one study, including Canada) that have been described as corporatist (Haddow 2002;Panitch 1979;Siaroff 1999).…”

If Money Talks, What Does It Say? Varieties of Capitalism and Business Financing of Parties

“…37 Boatright 2009, 26-27. 38 Jacek 1986;Bell 1995;Bell 2006, 162;Haddow 2002. 39 O'Malley 2007Savoie 1999.…”

Who Governs? Who Should Govern?: Political Authority and Legitimacy in Canada in the Twenty-First Century

“…Our national air and rail transportation are provided by the private sector. A number of other services, including labour market training and community economic development, are delivered in partnerships that are hybrids of public and private authority (Haddow, 2000(Haddow, , 2002; see also Boase, 2000).…”