political ignorance
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Notwithstanding Myths
The case for the notwithstanding clause rests on misunderstanding or misdirection. Continue reading
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Government Formation, Revisited
The orthodox understanding of the conventions of government formation is better than its populist rival Continue reading
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The Good Government Trilemma
If you like big government, be prepared to sacrifice democracy or accountability Continue reading
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Not That Kind of Voting
What New Zealand’s Electoral Commission’s attempt to boost turnout gets wrong about voting, and what we can learn from it Continue reading
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Don’t Know What You’re up to
Thoughts on Ilya Somin’s take on the consequences of political ignorance for judicial review Continue reading
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Where Is the Grass Greener?
In a recent article in Constitutional Forum, Peter Russell argues that Canada needs to imitate New Zealand by creating a Cabinet Manual that would, notably, contain an authoritative although not legally binding statement of the principal constitutional conventions, especially those that regulate the formation of governments. While this would, in prof. Russell’s view, have a Continue reading
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Yes Or No?
Post-Brexit thoughts on referenda, especially in the context of electoral reform In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, there is renewed debate about the lessons, if any, that it might hold for other democratic polities on the use of the referendum generally, and in particular for Canada about an eventual referendum on electoral reform. Many Continue reading
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Ideas of the Marketplace II
What we can learn from thinking about the marketplace of ideas as a market In a very interesting post over at EconLog, Bryan Caplan considers what he describes as the “dogmatic libertarian” claim that all markets work well, as it is applies ― or, rather, doesn’t apply ― to the marketplace of ideas. The marketplace seems Continue reading
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The Mainville Hearing: Beyond Interpretation
The “soft” issues in the Mainville Reference: being a Québec jurist, and public confidence in the courts. Continue reading
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Ignoramus et Ignorabimus
I have mentioned the problem of political ignorance a number of times on this blog, notably in connection with legislative inaction on access to justice. The idea ― which I have shamelessly borrowed wholesale from Ilya Somin (who explains it, for example, here) ― is that most people are ignorant about political matters writ (very) large Continue reading
Double Aspect 