I should like to congratulate Alan Cairns on his splendid analysis of the introductory texts on Canadian government in the March 1974 issue of the Journal (“Alternative Styles in the Study of Canadian Politics”). It should be required reading for all phd students of Canadian government and politics. In fact, I think it should also be read by all undergraduates, so that they would be aware of the particular slant of the text that they are using.

Perhaps the reason I am so favourably impressed by the piece, in addition to the sophisticated style in which it is written, is that I agree with nearly everything he says. In particular, I agree with his favourable portrayal of the historical-institutional approach to the study of Canadian government and politics. But this may be just an indication that he and I belong to the same older generation.

I certainly agree that all of the texts are deficient in their treatment of provincial and local government and politics and in their use of French-Canadian materials and points of view, and feel that the authors’ replies to his article did not adequately justify these deficiencies. I believe that he missed an important reason for the concentration of our interest on the federal level. A main reason for this, and for the lack of scholarly research on provincial and local government in Canada, was simply that Dawson's text omitted provincial and local government entirely.