Following certain studies in the United States, this article examines the question of the replacement of political representatives in realigning elections. In responding to this question, a three-step verification strategy will be used. First, with the aid of a volatility index, the authors define the different types of elections in Quebec since 1867. They then examine the changes in parliamentary members (turnover-electoral defeat), as well as the socio-economic transformations (in age, education, occupation) amongst parliamentary members in realigning elections. In general, if a relation exists between electoral realignments and changes in elected members, the results are less pronounced than in studies of the United States Congress.

The heuristic model commonly used to explain Canada's interests in development assistance is the mixed-motives approach. These motives are assumed to be philanthropic, economic, and politico-strategic, though there is little agreement among students of Canadian development assistance about which of the three is the most important. The purpose of this article is to examine the orthodox model; it concludes that these motives have little utility in accounting for contemporary aid policies. Instead, drawing on realist and statist theory, this study advances an alternative set of motives that it is argued more accurately accounts for the level and nature of Canada's development assistance policies. Elaborating on “politico-strategic” motives, the article suggests that the Canadian state's interests in prestige, organizational maintenance and limiting real expenditures provide a more proximate explanation of aid policy.

The traditional interpretation of Plato's Republic in the English-speaking world, expressed most sharply by Sir Karl Popper, was that it represented a serious proposal for political rule. However, Leo Strauss and Allan Bloom have argued that Plato's real concern was to protect the position of philosophy within the city. Influenced by Simone Weil, this article argues that even Strauss and Bloom do not express the extent of Plato's rejection of the political life. By examining Plato's handling of such themes as gold and nakedness, the article concludes that Plato's central concern in the Republic was to explore how a soul could strive for the Good, given that the human condition inescapably required social life.

Michel Foucault's framework has substantially changed the manner in which we understand power. His analysis substitutes for theoretical representations a study of complex mechanisms of production like strategy, tactic, apparatus, technologies, and so forth. Those terms are not simply figures of speech or analogies. The archaeology of knowledge brings a new perspective of study for social analysis: space. That concept shapes Foucault's approach from L'Histoire de la folie to Souci de soi. From that point of view, it is less important to linger on his notion of power than to inquire about his general theory of productions developped through the archaeological analysis of madness, jail, sexuality or subjectivity. It is in this fashion that Michel Foucault's work will contribute to modify social and human sciences' practices

This note examines the impact of changing economic conditions on the popularity of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation-New Democratic party from 1954 to 1984. Using a form of aggregate analysis to test hypotheses developed from the literature, the study finds considerable variability over time periods, especially in the effects of income and inflation. It is suggested this may be a result of the brokerage party system and the minority status of the CCF-NDP in that system. More consistent results were evident for unemployment but the impact of unemployment was negative and therefore contrary to that hypothesized. The importance of this factor in NDP popularity, however, seems to have declined in the last decade.

Short-term factors played a greater than usual role in the 1984 national election. Media coverage of the campaign therefore had a crucial impact. This study documents the coverage of leaders, parties and substantive issues by the major television and radio networks and 18 newspapers selected by region and language. A major finding is that the media reported results of public opinion polls to an unprecedented degree. This was one facet of the featuring of “horserace” issues over more substantive socio-economic ones. The data lend credence to the fears of those who feel that essential democratic goals of the electoral process are being undermined. The study also suggests rethinking the “no effects” theory of polling and electoral behaviour.