Can sub-units within a capitalist democracy, even a relatively decentralized one like Canada, pursue fundamentally different social and economic policies? Is their ability to do so less now than it was before the advent of globalization? In Comparing Quebec and Ontario, Rodney Haddow brings these questions and the tools of comparative political economy to bear on the growing public policy divide between Ontario and Quebec.

Combining narrative case studies with rigorous quantitative analysis, Haddow analyses how budgeting, economic development, social assistance, and child care policies differ between the two provinces. The cause of the divide, he argues, are underlying differences between their political and economic institutions.

An important contribution to ongoing debates about globalization’s “golden straightjacket,” Comparing Quebec and Ontario is an essential resource for understanding Canadian political economy.

Rodney Haddow is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Rodney Haddow's profile page

• Short-listed, Comparative Politics Prize awarded by the Canadian Political Science Association

“If our century is a march to international corporatism and conformity, why do such vastly different societies thrive on opposite banks of the Ottawa River? In this book of dissent, political scientist Rodney Haddow of the University of Toronto documents the striking absence of anything resembling globalization in our own neighbourhood. It’s a neat proposition.”

Blacklocks Reporter, January 17, 2016

‘This is a truly excellent book and it will hold broad appeal for many political scientists.’

Canadian Journal of Political Science vol 51:01:2018