Category Archives: political philosophy

Hobbes’s difficult idea

Posted by on | environment, political philosophy

One of my favorite Paul Krugman papers is called “Ricardo’s difficult idea” — on why people have such a hard time understanding the concept of “comparative advantage.” Although the situation is not quite as bad, I’ve been struck recently by how much difficulty many people have trying to understand the concept of a “collective action problem.” Although that idea has a bit more history to it, I don’t think it’s too much of a distortion of the record to call this “Hobbes’s difficult idea.”

I was prompted to think about this a couple days back, when James wrote in the comments:

I think everyone can understand free rider problems, but almost no one bothers to think of the world in that way.

Sad but true. One of the things I’m constantly amazed by in discussions over climate change is how elusive the basic concept of a collective action problem remains, and how unintuitive it is for many people (whether to grasp, or just to apply, as James suggests).… Continue reading

Thinking about Secession in Catalonia

Posted by on | Canada, political philosophy, politics, Quebec, Supreme Court (Canada)

I’m in Barcelona for a couple of weeks, teaching an accelerated seminar in the European MA program at Pompeu Fabra University. Yeah, I know, tough life.

Shortly before my arrival, requests for interviews with major Spanish newspapers started filling my inbox. Well, “filling” may be a bit too strong a word. I actually received three such requests, but they were from major outlets such as El Pais, a major national paper, and Aran, a newish paper started by Catalan separatists. They all wanted me to comment on recent events in Catalonia. (A referendum of sorts was held here on November 9th. The Spanish constitutional court deemed it illegal, and so it ended up being a bit of a non-event, with slightly under 40% of eligible voters turning up to vote in what had been downgraded to a “participatory consultation”. The “yes” option received a resounding majority of votes from those who showed up.… Continue reading

The war on the car continues (but how?)

Posted by on | political philosophy, public policy

Until recently, residents and visitors to Toronto have been able to observe a strange phenomenon. Right downtown, just behind the provincial legislature (here), there is a very beautiful park (called Queen’s Park). The surprising thing about this park was that, on a typical weekday during the summer, even during lunch hour, you could walk through this park and find practically nobody in it – no students from the University of Toronto, despite the fact that it is almost part of the campus, and no workers from the nearby government buildings eating lunch.

There was a simple reason for this. It all came down to urban planning – in this case, bad urban planning. Until recently, Queen’s Park was a typical example of what I tend to think of as “1960’s urban planning” — the time before people really figured out how cars work (or the way that cars affect the dynamic of pedestrian flow).… Continue reading

Le financement des écoles privées: le dilemme des progressistes

Posted by on | Canada, education, inequality, political philosophy, politics, Quebec, Uncategorized

Le gouvernement libéral contemplerait l’idée de réduire de 50% le financement des écoles privées. Si on considère généralement que 60% du financement des écoles privées subventionnées est public, un rapport récent démontre que le financement public réel du système privé atteint dans certains cas 75%. Le financement de l’éducation primaire et secondaire est un terrain de jeu idéal pour la gauche et la droite. La gauche soutient généralement que le système d’éducation doit favoriser l’égalité réelle des chances et doit, par conséquent, être universel et unique (voir le billet de Ianik Marcil ici). Puisque les écoles privées subventionnées, principalement parce qu’elles attirent les meilleurs élèves et enseignants, offrent en moyenne un meilleur enseignement et encadrement, les jeunes qui les fréquentent partent avec une longueur d’avance par rapport à ceux qui fréquentent les écoles publiques. Un système à « deux vitesses » contribue ainsi à la production des inégalités. C’est pourquoi l’État devrait mettre un terme au financement public de l’école privée.… Continue reading

Why you have no right to bear arms

Posted by on | criminal justice, law, political philosophy

The leaves are starting to change colour, the morning air is becoming crisp. When fall arrives, a man’s thoughts naturally turn toward… hunting. Myself, being of a wonkier frame of mind, I tend to think less about hunting and more about gun control.

Unlike Americans, we Canadians are not burdened by the straightjacket of a centuries-old constitution, and so there is no entrenched right of gun ownership in our society. Furthermore, neither politicians nor the courts have seen fit to create one. Indeed, the Supreme Court Reference re Firearms Act was a pretty unambiguous smack-down to any sort of “rights” talk. The current federal government is about as gun-friendly as any we are ever likely to see.

Some people, however, seem to have missed the memo (he says, casting his eyes westward). For those who did miss it, I want to explain in simple terms why you do not have, and ought not have, any “right” to own a gun.… Continue reading

The hard truth about hard power

Posted by on | criminal justice, political philosophy

I have a long form piece in the Ottawa Citizen, about the tendency certain people have to overestimate the effectiveness of physical force, when it comes to achieving social order. It starts with a little conversation:

(For purists, let me just acknowledge that this scene is not in the book, and there’s good reason for that, since Baelish’s end of the conversation is out of character.)

In any case, the point is not to discuss Game of Thrones, but to provide me with an opportunity to revisit some of the amazingly foolish things that were said in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and how they reveal real misunderstanding of some basic facts about how social order is maintained.

 … Continue reading

Those ubiquitous libertarians

Posted by on | political philosophy

Paul Krugman asks a question about the influence of the Koch Brothers in academia. It’s something that I’ve been wondering about as well. After all, given how incredibly expensive American politics has become, investing in academia is ridiculously cheap. I know from experience that philosophers will fall over themselves trying to get donations in the $50,000 range, which is of course peanuts by the standards of political donations.

Anyhow, I got to thinking about this earlier in the year, when I had an “I’m so naive” moment of kicking myself. I was invited to give a talk at an American university, in a series of lectures aimed at engaging both academics and the general public. When I got the list of speakers that they had planned, I was surprised to see that more than half were libertarians. When I was there giving the talk, I casually asked someone, “What’s up with all the libertarians?” “Oh,” I was told, “we got a call from the Koch Foundation.… Continue reading

The equalization program does not subsidize Quebec’s welfare state

Posted by on | Canada, inequality, political philosophy, politics, Quebec

François Boucher (Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre de recherche en éthique, Université de Montréal) and Jocelyn Maclure

It is not unusual to hear Canadians, from all the provinces, including some on the right in Quebec, complaining that fiscal federalism disproportionately benefits Quebec. Central in such concerns is the view that the equalization program allows Quebec to ship the costs of its social programs to the richest provinces, mostly Alberta, and keeps Quebec in a state of economic dependency.

The equalization payment program is enshrined in the Canadian constitution in section 36 of the 1982 Constitution Act, which states that: “Parliament and the government of Canada are committed to the principle of making equalization payments to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation” (Subsection 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982).

This year, Quebec will receive $9.3 billion from the federal equalization program.… Continue reading

Droit et démocratie: un gouvernement des juges ? (Partie 2)

Posted by on | Canada, law, political philosophy, Quebec, Supreme Court (Canada)

Comme je l’ai esquissé dans la première partie, la souveraineté populaire et la représentation démocratique d’un côté, et l’État de droit et les droits fondamentaux de l’autre, peuvent être vus comme les deux constellations de principes qui fondent la légitimité des régimes démocratiques contemporains. Il s’agit de deux logiques distinctes qui, bien que complémentaires, s’entrechoquent régulièrement. Alors que la souveraineté populaire stipule que le peuple doit être la source ultime des lois, les principes de l’État de droit et de respect des droits fondamentaux impliquent plutôt que l’exercice du pouvoir se fasse en conformité avec une constitution et que certaines normes doivent être à l’abri de la volonté de la majorité et du gouvernement au pouvoir. Comme on voit mal à partir de quel point de vue nous pourrions établir la priorité de l’une des logiques par rapport à l’autre, il vaut mieux les voir comme également fondamentales et en tension perpétuelle.… Continue reading

Droit et démocratie: un gouvernement des juges ? (Partie 1)

Posted by on | Canada, law, political philosophy, Supreme Court (Canada)

L’idée que le Canada soit gouverné par des juges et que l’équilibre des pouvoirs entre le judicaire et l’exécutif ait été rompu est vue comme une vérité évidente dans certains milieux intellectuels et politiques québécois. La Cour suprême du Canada aurait, depuis 1982, usurpé le pouvoir de nos représentants dûment élus. Le blogueur de L‘Actualité Frédéric Bastien répète cette idée comme un mantra. Dans son dernier billet, il implore le Parti conservateur d’utiliser le pouvoir de dérogation pour ignorer les jugements, dont ceux sur les centres d’injection supervisée et sur les maisons closes, qui lui déplaisent.

Comme je l’ai déjà avancé, les critiques de l’ « activisme judicaire » doivent nous expliquer comment ils conçoivent le rapport entre le droit et la démocratie ou entre, d’un côté, l’État de droit et les droits fondamentaux de la personne et, de l’autre, la souveraineté populaire et le pouvoir du parlement.… Continue reading