The Impacts of the Reform Party of Canada in the Federal Canada Essay

The Impacts of the Reform Party of Canada in the Federal Canada - Essay Example Such constituent political organs have great influence in the way things are done in the political setup of any federal state. It is important to highlight that federalism always thrive where democracy forms the core of the political structure and sovereignty (Bakvis and Grace, 28). The democratic rules form the core of the powers used by the national and provincial governments, thus creating a federation. This form of government has been majorly experienced in several nations worldwide. Some of the counties that have been governed through federalism include Australia, Brazil and Canada. In addition, the other countries in which federalism thrives include Colombia and India. The federalism in Canada majorly concerns the historical achievements that the federal Canada attained with regards to its system of government (Bakvis and Grace, 21). Canada is one of the federations that thrives on two systems of government. These include the national government, which is the federal government , as well as the provincial government. The provincial governments in Canada execute on matters pertaining to provincial administrations as detailed in the constitution. In Canada, there are clear-cut differences between the parliamentary federal systems and the provincial assemblies. These differences come in terms of areas of legislative authority. Those two federal systems of governments are absolutely independent of each other when it comes to execution of legislative duties. However, even though independence of the two legislative arms is evident, there are some of the sectors which are shared by these independent legal systems. Some of these sectors include agriculture and immigration sectors in Canada. However, it is quite prudent to note that majority of the sectors are encompassed within the federal jurisdiction (Bakvis and Grace, 37). For instance, the sector of foreign affairs and telecommunications are entirely within the federal jurisdiction. However, sectors like educa tion and health care are squarely dealt with within the provincial jurisdiction in Canada. The Reform Party of Canada is one of the federal political parties that thrived in Canada for a number of years. The party was established in the year 1987 due to several protests that formed part of the political on-goings in Canada in the late nineteenth century. The Reform Party of Canada arose under the strong influence of the people who were led by the populous leader named Preston Manning. Preston Manning led the party until March 25, the year 2000 when the party dissolved (Bakvis and Grace, 47). The major political motivations that were championed by the party include the need for democratic reforms. In addition, the movement was strongly opposed to the Progressive Conservative government that was headed by Brian Mulroney. This made the movement to gain a massive political backing by the people in the western parts of Canada. This made the party to start seeking for backing even from th e Eastern parts of Canada for the benefit of moving the nation forward. The party also gained political backing following the quest for equality that they championed following the discrimination of the people of Western Canada in favor of those from the eastern parts. There are several impacts that the Reform Party of Canada had on the Canadian federalism. It is of critical importance to acknowledge the role played by peace and equality amongst the citizens. It is in order to highlight that for a country to experience a balance in development, there should be a sense of equality amongst the people. As such, there should be no part of that country whose people are discriminated upon. Discrimination of individuals as

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nuclear Non-Proliferation - Essay Example Many theories exist on the 'why' and 'how' of nuclear proliferation such as 'classical realism' and 'neo-realism' but what is generally accepted is that the locus is external in nature. As per Fry, "If a state bids for hegemony, other states willform an alliance to contain and deter the expansion-revisionist states" (Fry 3). This is based on the assumption that states seek to, "maximize their power in order to survive in a competitive international system," (Ogilvie-White 44). Hence, nations who see a perceived threat to their national interests or in extreme cases to their very existence (as in the caser of Israel) seek to acquire a nuclear deterrent since "security represents the intimate challenge to a states survival (Ogilvie-White, 45). This theoretical debate is best exemplified by the arguments propounded by Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz in their book 'The Spread of Nuclear Weapons, A Debate' (New York: WW Norton and Company, 1995). This scholarly debate has two basic schools, one that views states as unitary, rational entities and the other which feels that proliferation occurs as an outcome of organizational interests. Both views have their merits and limitations as will be expanded upon. However, it is quite apparent that given existing geo-political realities, more and more states will seek to acquire nuclear weapon capabilities as a safeguard against nuclear blackmail. The first school of thought, led by Kenneth Waltz are the proliferation 'optimists' in that they feel that nuclear proliferation is not necessarily a negative outcome, and that contrary to popular belief, it may even have contributed to world peace. According to this theory of 'rational deterrence', "once more than one state has acquired a second-strike capability, war between the nuclear armed states is unlikely to occur, due to the fact that mutual destruction is almost assured" (Waltz 1990, 734). Waltz argues that near parity in nuclear weapon capability leads to a reduced probability of armed conflict on account of the prohibitive costs of waging war; unacceptable levels of mutual destruction; and lesser chances of miscalculation by the political leadership, since the ramifications such miscalculation would be catastrophic. This theory certainly gains some credibility when one considers that there has been no all-out war between two nuclear powers. However, Waltz qualifies this optimism by laying down certain pre-conditions that have to exist for stable deterrence. These are firstly, that "there should be no preventive war while a state is developing its nuclear capability; secondly, "both states must develop a sufficient second-strike force to retaliate if attacked first; and thirdly, "the nuclear arsenals must not be prone to unauthorized or accidental use" (Sagan and Waltz, 51). This position seems quite reasonable since nuclear wars are more likely in conditions of asymmetry, even though the asymmetry might be in terms of conventional military capability. It also reinforces the rationale of states seeking to acquire nuclear weapons capability in order to maintain the balance of power through nuclear deterrence. This would be particularly true of states which see themselves surrounded by inimical neighbors, as in the case of