Rainer Olaf Schultze Knihy

The thirteen papers assembled in this volume offer a comparative perspective on the state of conservative and right-wing populist parties in the North American democraties. They deal with: Ideological and Value Change in the North American Mass Publics, Conservative Ideology and Party Programmes, The Changing Landskape of the Two Party Systems, The Public Policies of Conservative and Neo-Liberal Governments in North America

The Canadian Studies Directorate of the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada has commissioned this study of German student experiences in Canada for several important reasons. Canadian Studies in the Federal Republic of Germany have grown considerably over the past ten years due, in part, to the strength and vitality of the “Gesellschaft fur Kanada-Studien.” Forty of the forty-four German universities now offer Canadian Studies, and academic linkages between the Federal Republic and Canada have been expanding accordingly, especially university exchange programmes. As well, a growing number of Canadians are interested in a variety of foreign student issues. A study such as this is intended to contribute to our understanding of how study in Canada is viewed by international students themselves. This report, prepared by the Institute for Canadian Studies at the University of Augsburg in the Federal Republic, reveals fascinating information of both a qualitative and quantitative nature, which should help to inform students, policy makers and universities about questions the Commission called vital to the health of Canada's international academic relationships.

In October 1999, fifteen academic experts and government practitioners from Germany and North America convened at the University of Augsburg to discuss "Constitutional Reform and Constitutional Jurisprudence in Canada and the United States." This volume captures the outcomes of that conference, a collaborative effort between the Department of Political Science at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Institute for Canadian Studies at the University of Augsburg. The workshop was guided by two main ideas: first, established democracies must regularly adapt their constitutional frameworks to environmental changes to prevent democratic stability from becoming rigid. In many Western nations, including Canada and the United States, challenges such as the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state and the rise of diverse, postmodern societies have led to increased, albeit often unsuccessful, constitutional reform efforts. Second, there is no singular path or model for achieving an "optimal" constitutional order; reform processes and their outcomes are heavily influenced by specific contexts and historical trajectories. Consequently, workshop participants and contributors to this volume examined the unique preconditions, contexts, and impacts of recent constitutional reform activities in both the United States and Canada.