Because of its mix of institutions and practices, the fundamental
nature of the government of Canada is a problematic case for scholars. A
reconsideration of the Canadian polity needs to be undertaken because of
events over the past quarter century, such as the development of executive
federalism; the repatriation of a revised Constitution from the
supervision of the United Kingdom over the objections of Quebec; the
rejection of the constitutional settlements in the Meech Lake Accord
(1990) and the Charlottetown Accord (1992); increased attention to the
claims of Aboriginal peoples; increased movements for relaxing party
discipline in Parliament and for a more proportional electoral system;
increased controversy over the use of judicial review in interpreting the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and, above all, the ongoing problem of
national unity, especially stemming from the Quebec separatist
movement.An earlier version of this paper
was presented at a conference of the Association of Canadian Studies,
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thanks to Arend Lijphart for data and
comments.