Canada and the United States

David M. Thomas has held senior academic administrative appointments at Mount Royal University in Calgary and is retired Vice President Academic of Vancouver Island University. He was also the recipient of Mount Royal's Distinguished Faculty Award. He is the author of Whistling Past the Graveyard: Constitutional Abeyances, Quebec, and the Future of Canada and co-editor of Braving the New World: Readings in Contemporary Politics. 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.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Plus a 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: Governance 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 m me chose? Contributors Index