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At the Centre of Government: The Prime Minister and the Limits on Political Power

By (author) Ian Brodie

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normal price: R 1,421.95

Price: R 1,279.95

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""Canada's prime minister is a dictator."" ""The Sun King of Canadian government."" ""More powerful than any other chief executive of any other democratic country."" These kinds of claims are frequently made about Canada's leader - especially when the prime minister's party holds a majority government in Parliament. But is there any truth to these arguments? At the Centre of Government not only presents a comprehensively researched work on the structure of political power in Canada but also offers a first-hand view of the inner workings of the Canadian federal government. Ian Brodie - former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada - argues that the various workings of the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office, the cabinet, parliamentary committees, and the role of backbench members of Parliament undermine propositions that the prime minister has evolved into the role of an autocrat, with unchecked control over the levers of political power. He corrects the dominant thinking that Canadian prime ministers hold power without limits over their party, caucus, cabinet, Parliament, the public service, and the policy agenda. Citing examples from his time in government and from Canadian political history he argues that in Canada's evolving political system, with its roots in the pre-Confederation era, there are effective checks on executive power, and that the golden age of Parliament and the backbencher is likely now. Drawing on a vast body of work on governance and the role of the executive branch of government, At the Centre of Government is a fact-based primer on the workings of Canadian government and sobering second thoughts about many proposals for reform.

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The Ballerina and the Bull: Anarchist Utopias in the Age of Finance

Johanna Isaacson
Paperback / softback
288 pages
was: R 320.95
now: R 288.95
This title will take longer to obtain, and should be delivered in 6-8 weeks

Our moment has seen the resurgence of an anarchist sensibility, from the uprisings in Seattle in 1999 to the Occupy movement of 2011.

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Fifteen Dogs

AndrÃ© Alexis
Paperback / softback
176 pages
was: R 315.95
now: R 283.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock

A pack of dogs are granted the power of human thought - but what will it do to them? A surprising and insightful look at the beauty and perils of consciousness.

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The Memory Collectors: A Novel

Dete Meserve
Paperback / softback
320 pages
was: R 641.95
now: R 577.95
Forthcoming

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