Parameters of Power: Canada' s Political Instituti : Fourth Edition

by Heather MacIvor

What is the purpose of a first-year textbook? For instructors, one purpose is to provide more extensive information than even the most comprehensive lectures can convey. Another is to generate student discussion, whether in the class as a whole or in weekly tutorial groups. A third is to excite the students’ interest in the subject matter by presenting up-to-date information and ideas in a clear and easily accessible way. A fourth is to expose students to some of the primary source documents in the discipline; in Canadian politics, which is the topic of this book, the most important of these are the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982. This fourth edition of Parameters of Power, like its predecessor, has been crafted with these purposes in mind. Much of the third edition has been retained, but much new material has been added. The framework of analysis grounds political institutions in their social and cultural context, highlighting the reciprocal relationship between the political system and the society that it serves.

633 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2005