Neoconservatism in an Open Economy: The Social Role of the Canadian State

ABSTRACT. The impact of neoconservative ideas has varied considerably among Western nations. This paper examines some of the factors at work by exploring Canadian experience. Despite the election of conservative governments at the federal level and in several provinces, the conse-quences for social policy have been more limited than elsewhere. The reasons for this pattern are embedded in distinctive features of the polit-ical economy of the Canadian welfare state. Most importantly, the inten-sity of linguistic and regional divisions within the fragile federal system, and the country’s marginal position in the international trading regime constrain a radical neoconservative agenda. Studies of neoconservatism in states that are relatively large and integrated on the territorial dimension risk taking these factors for granted. Social change comes in many guises. In some societies and in some periods, it comes as a sharp break from the past. In other instances, change comes as a steady drift in a new direction. Not surprisingly, dramatic change captures the greatest atten