POL382H1F L0101

Topics in Canadian Politics

Political Interests, Political Identity, and Public Policy

Themes

What is the difference between a social movement and an interest group? Sex workers, gun control advocates, and transgender rights activists may capture newspaper headlines, but is social protest the most effective way to change a policy? Environmentalism is an international movement, but can environmentalists in one country really influence government decisions in another? Idle No More and the Assembly of First Nations both try to influence government policy, but which has been more successful and why? These are the sorts of questions we examine in this course by using the tools of political science to analyze social movements, interests groups, and government responses to them in Canada and the United States.

Texts

Miriam Smith, A Civil Society? Collective Actors in Canadian Political Life; Lisa Young and Joanna Everitt, Advocacy Groups; selected readings distributed via Blackboard.

Format and Requirements

Reading response paper (15%), term essay (35%) and term essay outline (5%), final test (35%), and attendance and participation (10%).

Prerequisites

POL214H1/ POL214Y1/ POL214Y5/ POL215H5/ POL216H5/ POL224H1/ POL224Y1/ POLB50Y3