Donald Anton DESSERUD desserud@unbsj.ca Urban and ...

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Desserud 12Research StatementAttempts to legislate fixed-date elections, votes of non-confidence that fail to force anelection, opposition motions designed to force policy on a government; all of these arerecent examples of challenges facing the Canadian parliamentary system, and all are thefocus of my research. In general, my research involves constitutionalism (that is, the useof constitutional structures to limit powers or prevent their abuse) as its operates underthe Westminster model. I am investigating its origins in eighteenth-century Britain, andI am applying constitutionalism to certain issues (such as confidence votes) that affectthe Canadian parliamentary system today. I have pursued this interest along threeresearch paths, some of which cross over.Montesquieu studies:One of my current projects is titled Montesquieu in the Age of Walpole. In this work, Iam examining Montesquieu’s analysis of the English constitution in the context ofWalpolian politics in the eighteenth century (the “Robinocracy”). Simply put, I arguethat Montesquieu understood and was better exposed to the politics of mid-eighteenthcentury England than has been previously supposed, and considered Walpole’s positionas prime minister (as he was in every respect but name) as a temporary but nonethelessdespotic corruption of what should be a liberal constitution. Montesquieu is not only thesubject of my doctoral dissertation (UWO, 1989), but also of several of my publications(Desserud 2001, 1999a, 1991a).Canadian constitutionalism:I also write on Canadian constitutional and parliamentary questions. I have publishedon the constitutional protection of language rights in New Brunswick (Desserud 1996a).Further, I have applied Montesquieu’s theories of separation of powers to (very) early
Desserud 13examples of British North American constitutionalism, specifically in Nova Scotia at thetime of the American Revolution (Desserud 1999b, 1996c, 1991b). My current researchnow focuses on the workings of the Westminster model as it applies to Canada(Desserud 2009a; 2009b; 2007; 2006). My work in this area was recently recognizedwhen I was asked to appear before the Senate Legal and Constitutional AffairsCommittee (14 February 2007) which was reviewing federal legislation (Bill C-16) to ‘fix’elections dates.New Brunswick Politics and Culture:The third area of my research is New Brunswick politics. This has included languagepolitics (Desserud 1996a), as well as general overviews (Desserud and Hyson 2010,Desserud 2008). It has also involved applying the theory of ‘social capital’ to NewBrunswick political culture. In 2003, together with two colleagues (Drs Joanna Everittand Paul Howe), I was awarded a Standard Research Grant from SSHRCC for a ‘socialcapital’ survey of New Brunswick. Our purpose was to test the social capital thesis, thatstrong social connections of trust and reciprocity led to robust economies and innovativegovernments. If true, New Brunswick should be a prosperous province, given that NewBrunswickers, anecdotally anyway, trust and know their neighbours well, maintain closeties with their families and friends, and are still politically engaged. Our survey did showthat all this was true, although not surprisingly a French-English language dividemitigated some of this. We also found that much of what has been assumed about NBvoting behaviour had little basis (or no longer did so). For example, New Brunswickersdo not vote according to their ethnic identity, nor are they reluctant to switch theirvotes. Over all, however, our conclusions were that the social capital theory, althoughuseful, did not provide a sufficient explanation for New Brunswick’s chronic economic
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Donald Anton DESSERUD desserud@unbsj.ca Urban and ...

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