Imperialism, pluralism and democracy: the political thought in Quebec and the English Canada

Abstract

This paper reviews the evolution of the political thought in Canada, from its foundation until the current days. Throughout this review, three main concepts emerge as vital in order to understand the Canadian experience, those of imperialism, pluralism, and democracy. Every state organizes its plurality in a particular way. In the case of Canada, it characterizes itself by the existence, in its interior, of societies distinguished by its histories, its cultures and its political status, namely the First Nations, the societies founded by the British and French colonial developments and the multicultural groups emerged from immigration. Between these societies, it is possible to observe the occurrence of a hierarchization process, sustained, among others, by the Canadian institutional regime, which ensured the predominance of the English Canada, especially at the adoption of Confederation, back in 1867. However, as other Western societies, Canada has been facing extensive changes since the 1960’. The further deepening of the democratic imaginary has delegitimized the hierarchical character. In the political plan, it is possible to distinguish three phases of these transformations: from 1960 to 1980, a dynamics of contestation marked by the Québécois nationalist claims; from 1980 to 1995, a period of institutional crisis and; from 1995 to nowadays, in realignment of political forces that favored a conservative change in Canadian politics. The political thought also traverses different phases. We observe, initially, a spirit of modernization that assumes, sometimes, radical forms through the integration of Marxists and decolonization perspectives. Thereafter, the constitutional crisis contributed, to feed the contemporary debates between the liberal theories of justice, the communitarianism, and the republicanism. Through this review, we can note a pluralist change that reflects the emergence of new figures of unity. Historically, the Canadian political has developed itself in the terrain of the difficult articulations between unity, duality and the multiple.