Canada and the United States

Differences that Count, Third Edition

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction,
David M. Thomas and Barbara Boyle Torrey

Data Gold Mines and Minefields: Doing Comparative Research on Canada and the United States,
Barbara Boyle Torrey

Part I: Perceptions, Values, and Democracy

1. Imagining Each Other,
Stephen Brooks

2. Canadian and American Values Divergences: The Narcissism of Small Differences?
Michael Adams

3. Football, Frats, and Fun vs. Commuters, Cold, and Carping: The Social and Psychological Context of Higher Education in Canada and the United States,
Henry Srebrnik (with David M. Thomas)

4. Population Tectonics: Births, Deaths, and Immigration in North America,
Barbara Boyle Torrey

Appendix I: Data Sources for Future Research

Part II: Social Policies and Safety Nets

5. Race, Territorial Integration, and Public Policy in the United States and Canada,
Gerard W. Boychuk

6. Extravagant Americans, Healthier Canadians: The Bottom Line in North American Health Care,
Robert G. Evans

7. Welfare, Safety Nets, and Values,
John Harles

8. What Price Canadian? Taxation and Debt Compared,
David Perry

Appendix II: Data Sources for Future Research

Part III: Laws, Crimes, and Courts

9. Two Nations Under Law,
Hon. Roger P. Kerans

10. Unexpected Convergences: Judging Democracy in the Canadian and US Supreme Courts,
Christopher Manfredi and Mark Rush

11. Crime and Crime Trends in Canada and the United States,
Marc Ouimet

12. Rhetoric, Reality, and Rights: Comparing Canadian and American Aboriginal Policy,
Kathy Brock

Appendix III: Data Sources for Future Research

Part IV: Political Institutions and Politics

13. Past Futures: The Development and Evolution of American and Canadian Federalism,
David M. Thomas

14. A Tale of Two Senates,
Roger Gibbins and Peter McCormick

15. Prime Ministers and Presidents,
Jennifer Smith

16. Turning Out or Tuning Out? Electoral Participation in Canada and the United States,
Michael Martinez

17. Environmental Policy in Canada and the United States: Climate Change and Continuing Distinctiveness,
Debora VanNijnatten

18. Resolving Disputes: No One Path,
David Biette

Appendix IV: Data Sources for Future Research

Conclusion: Improving Our Mutual Understanding,
David M. Thomas

Notes on Contributors

Index

 

Description

This thoroughly revised edition of Canada and the United States: Differences that Count continues to address, in a timely way, key institutions and policy areas, adding new chapters on welfare, race and public policy, values, demography, crime, the environment, conflict resolution, and federalism. Data sources for further research have also been included. As in the previous editions, the book does not assume that differences are increasing or decreasing or that one country is "better" than the other. In a straightforward and readable manner, the book looks at the Canadian way and the American way of doing things. From health care to crime (and punishment); from immigration to race and public policy; from tax regulations to the environment; from values to prime ministers and presidents there are as many differences as there are similarities in the way the two countries do things, and not infrequently it turns out that the similarities and differences are not as we have assumed them to be. In Canada and the United States: Differences that Count, Third Edition, leading authorities compare and contrast the Canadian and the American experiences. They do so in the hope of creating a better understanding of the similarities and differences so that policy-makers, students, and ordinary citizens in each of the two countries may learn from the experiences of the other.