Macdonald is described as a man of phronesis who possessed a sophisticated political philosophy which, in general, conformed to the political disposition exemplified by Edmund Burke. Macdonald's views on the constitution, change, representation, democracy, women, tradition, economics, religion and unions are investigated. It is concluded that Macdonald was an anti-rationalist who saw the world in terms of loyalty, duty and obligation and who was devoted to the principles of prudence, tradition and the rule of law, to constitutional monarchy, to the British connection and British institutions but with respect for French traditions, to the minimal change consistent with harmony, to order before liberty, politics before economics and experience before abstract reason.

Aristotle is reputed to be a thinker for whom nature is a standard which enables political judgments to avoid being arbitrary. By examining his discussion of acquisition in the Politics, this article reconsiders whether and how this reputation is deserved. Although Aristotle's discussion seems to represent a classic case in which theoretical reflections on nature issue in a moral condemnation of limitless acquisition, a subsequent distinction between theory and practice limits the practical consequences of his remarks on nature. This observation invites a rethinking of Aristotle's position on the relationship between nature and political life.

This article argues that Popper's social and political theory is congenial to the planning and carrying out of fundamental and thoroughgoing reform of society guided and informed by rationally plausible and morally defensible theory. Popper's arguments for moderation in political action do not rest on or support any kind of idealization of either tradition or status quo, or even upon his dislike of violence, but rather upon the inherent limitations of human knowledge. While there is no need to fear radical revolution in theoretical science (no one is harmed when theories are killed), the application of theories to political action involves risk. And risk presents moral problems and decisions which cannot be resolved by science. Popper's social and political ethics are humanitarian and egalitarian. If this should require broad, fundamental changes in political and social norms and institutions, then such changes must remain among the ultimate, if not the immediate goals of political action.

According to Hayek the rule of law constitutes the foundation of liberalism's political and legal theory. General and abstract laws, as opposed to concrete measures, protect individual freedom from prerogative and arbitrariness (normativism versus decisionism). Hayek maintains that Carl Schmitt's decisionism explains his attacks on liberalism and the prominent role he played in support of Hitler's regime. Two general observations should shorten the distance that Hayek seeks to establish between his posture and that of Schmitt. Firstly, Schmitt's critique is primarily aimed against the tendency that neutralizes the state and makes it vulnerable to democratic pressures. Secondly, Hayek's normativism is seen to contain a decisionist potential.

Native Indian leaders in Canada have embraced the European-Western doctrine of sovereignty as the political-legal instrumentality for achieving their version of “the good society.” This article analyzes the appropriateness and feasibility of sovereign statehood for Canada's Indians. Indian aspirations to sovereign statehood run aground on at least two counts: key ideas contained in the European-Western doctrine of sovereignty are incompatible with core values comprising traditional Indian culture: also, the Canadian government is implacably opposed to relinquishing its sovereignty over Indians. This study explores alternative models of self-determination for Canada's Indians and concludes that stateless nationhood offers the best basis on which Indians may be able to negotiate internal self-determination.

One way of seeing Machiavelli is as a literary artist who appreciated, in his figurative portraiture of princes, that an effective likeness will always reveal to the attentive eye, something of the prince, of his audience, and of the portraitist himself. And since politics is an activity in which, on his understanding, there is no absolute truth, but only multifarious effectual truths; a comprehensive depiction of political life must embrace irreconcilable points of view as diverse as those of individual princes, the people, and “each man.” The observer's task thus demanded perspectival powers that would test the fabled eyes of Argus. This article sets out the evidence supporting such an interpretation in individual texts of Machiavelli's works, while suggesting how each contributes to the completed literary artistry of his brilliantly evoked world of pictures in words of political aspiration, failure and achievement.

Public policies can be understood as practical judgments which involve both self-regarding prudential reasoning and other-regarding moral reasoning. A general model of decision-making that has an adequate concept of policy rationality should have a place for both kinds of practical reasoning. Two paradigms of decision-making have dominated contemporary studies of public policy-making, but neither meets this test. Pluralist-exchange models assume that the reasons backing policy decisions are always self-regarding. Elitist-planning models assume they are exclusively other-regarding. Because each of the paradigms separately produces only partial models of decision-making, they must be used together to provide a full account of public policy-making.

Journalistic writing is usually conceived as simple, clear and accessible. It is a vulgarisation discourse. Using a sophisticated program for discourse analysis (DEREDEC), the author has computerized the Flesch and Gunning readability tests. Montreal French newspaper coverage of the White Paper on the referendum constitute the corpus of this study. In brief, the unexpected conclusion is that newspapers are not so readable. The author attempts to explain this situation, referring not only to the journalists' competence but also to their working conditions. Also, what social and political influence can the press have if papers are hardly readable?