Canada and the United States: Differences that Count, Fourth Edition

by David Thomas (Editor), David Biette (Editor)

Overview

Canada and the United States: Differences that Count investigates why and how the United States and Canada—while so close and seemingly so similar—remain different in so many ways. In seventeen analytical yet readable chapters, leading authorities look at the American and the Canadian ways of doing things. The questions they address affect us all in ways great and small: as citizens, as students, and as policymakers. Our similarities and our differences are not always as we have assumed them to be, and this volume helps us learn from one another's experiences.

The fourth edition features new chapters on taxation, revenues, and budgets; health care; banking and financial regulation; legislatures; foreign policy; prime ministers and presidents; and state-province comparisons. Every chapter has been updated to take into consideration major developments and changes since the third edition, including the economic meltdown of 2008, changing electoral outcomes, new census data, and new policy directions in both countries—especially concerning health care and the environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442609099
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	06/10/2014
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

David M. Thomas is the retired vice president academic of Vancouver Island University. He was the editor and co-editor of the first four editions of Canada and the United States, and holds a PhD in political science from the University of Calgary.


David N. Biette is Director of the Canada Institute, an integral program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has served as executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, and as a political-economic officer at the Consulate General of Canada in New York. He is the author of numerous chapters, policy briefs, and op-eds, and appears regularly in US and Canadian media.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Plus ça change?
David M. Thomas (with David N. Biette)
Data Gold Mines and Minefields
Barbara Boyle Torrey

Part One: Populations, Impressions, Values, and Cultures
1. Population Tectonics: Life and Death in North America
Barbara Boyle Torrey
2. Imagining Each Other
Stephen Brooks
3. America Pivots Toward Progressive Canada: Recent Trajectories of Social Change in North America
Michael Adams
4. Football, Frats, and Fiscal Peril vs. Commuters, Carping, and Rising Costs: The New Financial, Social, and Psychological Context of Higher Education in Canada and the United States
Henry Srebrnik (with David M. Thomas)
Data Sources for Future Research

Part Two: and Governing Mechanisms
5. Past Futures: Federalism Under Stress
David M. Thomas
6. Prime Ministers and Presidents: Institutional Differences and Political Convergence
Thomas M.J. Bateman
7. Turning Out or Tuning Out? Electoral Participation in Canada and the United States
Michael D. Martinez
8. Legislatures and Parties: Heightened Divisions Since the 1990s
Melissa Haussman and Lori Turnbull
9. Two Nations Under Law
Hon. Roger P. Kerans
Data Sources for Future Research

Part Three: Economic Systems, Taxation, and Safety Nets
10. Banks, Banking, Regulatory Mechanisms, and the Public Interest: What's So Different?
Kathryn C. Lavelle and Tony Porter
11. Getting Things Straight: The Complex World of Budgetary Policy
Munir A. Sheikh
12. Health Care in Canada and the United States
Antonia Maioni
13. Choose Your Parents Wisely: Economic Inequality and Mobility in Canada and the United States
John Harles
Data Sources for Future Research

Part Four: Policy Differences, Policy Challenges, and Policy Change
14. So Near and Yet So Far: Washington and British Columbia in the New Century
Jonathan W. Lampman and David M. Thomas
15. Environmental Policy in Canada and the United States: Climate Change and Increasing Distinctiveness
Debora L. VanNijnatten
16. First Nations: Turning Promises Into Action?
Kathy Brock
17. Reflections on Foreign Policies, Defence Budgets, Borders, and the Current State of the Partnership
David N. Biette and Alexandra Kuschner

Conclusion: Plus c'est la même chose?
Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Daniyal Zuberi

In the tradition of Seymour Martin Lipset, the fourth edition of Canada and the United States comprehensively compares the political, economic, and social differences between the two countries. With a careful exploration of the ever-shifting demographics, values, and governance structures, the book presents a wealth of insights based on comparative analysis. Bringing together the contributions of leading experts, it represents an updated and valuable resource for scholars, students, and others hoping to better understand the US and Canada.

Kent Weaver

Canada and the United States: Differences that Count is so well-written that the average citizen should be tempted to turn off the television or the internet and dip in a few chapters at a time.

From the Publisher

Canada and the United States is perfect for classroom use and so well-written that the average citizen should be tempted to turn off the television or the internet and dip in a few chapters at a time.

Mildred A. Schwartz

I'm very excited about this book. And even though I no longer buy many books for my personal library, I definitely plan to buy this new edition.