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Political Science Canadian

The Charter Revolution and the Court Party

by (author) F.L. Morton & Rainer Knopff

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2000
Category
Canadian, Civil Rights, Human Rights
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551110899
    Publish Date
    Apr 2000
    List Price
    $48.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442602458
    Publish Date
    Apr 2013
    List Price
    $30.95

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Description

The Charter of Rights has transformed Canadian politics. The Supreme Court has used the Charter to change government policy on an ever-expanding list of controversial issues—abortion, aboriginal rights, gay rights, bilingualism, criminal law enforcement, and prisoner-voting. The Court has made itself the second most powerful institution in Canadian politics after the Federal Cabinet. Morton and Knopff demonstrate that the Court is not so much the cause as the means by which the Charter Revolution has been achieved. Behind the judges is a well orchestrated network of state-funded interest groups that use litigation and the media to achieve what they can't win through democratic elections.

About the authors

F.L. Morton and Rainer Knopff received their PhDs from the University of Toronto and have both taught at the University of Calgary for the past twenty years. Their previous books include Charter Politics (1992), Morgentaler v. Borowski: Abortion, the Charter, and the Courts (1992), Human Rights and Social Technology: The New War on Discrimination (1989), and Federalism and the Charter: Leading Constitutional Decisions (1989, with Peter Russell).

F.L. Morton's profile page

F.L. Morton and Rainer Knopff received their PhDs from the University of Toronto and have both taught at the University of Calgary for the past twenty years. Their previous books include Charter Politics (1992), Morgentaler v. Borowski: Abortion, the Charter, and the Courts (1992), Human Rights and Social Technology: The New War on Discrimination (1989), and Federalism and the Charter: Leading Constitutional Decisions (1989, with Peter Russell).

Rainer Knopff's profile page