<p>The central focus of this thesis is on Canada's foreign policy towards, and relationship with the Commonwealth West African countries of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Gambia. The paper will explore the trends and patterns of interaction between Canada and these countries from 1957 to 1977.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis is an attempt to examine the nature of ideological thought, and the way in which the concept of ideology is used in politics. A short survey of the concept introduces the topic. The concept is then treated in terms of epistemology, the sociology of knowledge, nationalism, and political theory and doctrine.</p> <p>The conclusions are that the proponents of the view that ideology is at an end in politics may well be correct in terms of their own implicit assumptions, but it is clear that this standpoint cannot be upheld if other assumptions are made. Substantial support may be given to this proposition by the fact that it is possible to argue that the "end-of-ideology" is itself an ideological viewpoint, and one that is substantially in favour of the status guo. As such, this viewpoint appears to be inherently inimical to the philosophical critique of such basic political concepts as freedom, democracy, and political order.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The object of this dissertation has been to attempt to illustrate, with the help of the novel, certain fundamental concepts in political studies, and to link these concepts coherently.</p> <p>The link that is established is not proposed as final. It is more a way in which one seeming coherence can be established. It is part of this dissertation to assert that the very nature of politics is such that any final linking of concepts is impossible for the single reason that politics, being normative essentially, cannot be static.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The central purpose of this paper is to examlne the Canadian foreign policy decision making process. A case-study approach waS used for greater manageability, but the specific case of relations with Southern Africa was chosen because it is the author's contention that Canadian policy in 1974 towards that area of the world is seriously in error and needs to be changed.</p> <p>The specifics of Canadian decision-making regarding Southern Africa were applied to a model of decision-making suggested by Salisbury and Heinz, and adapted by Hockin, in which decisions were considered independent variable determining the actual policy process. Policy emerges as a result of the interrelationship between the demand pattern and the cost of decision-making. The model allowed for organization of the research and suggested directions which future actions might take on the issue.</p> <p>In addition to emphasizing very practical reasons for changing Canadian policy towards Southern Africa, the author also argues strongly that ethical considerations do have a role to play in international and political affairs. More specifically, she accuses liberal thought of being chiefly to blame for the faults of Canadian decision-making, and lays out a program of action to correct them.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The thesis is an attempt to gauge the voting behaviour patterns of the Quebec provincial electorate during three elections which occurred in a crucial transitional era in contemporary French Canadian society. The study attempts to discern the impact of institutionalized nationalist ideologies on the social and economic development of French Canada and, in turn, attempts to measure the effect of nationalism on the voting behaviour patterns of the provincial electorate. It is also an attempt to consider the importance of certain variables -- ethnicity and social class -- in the voting behaviour of the electorate in 1952, 1960 and 1962.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Throughout the 50 years existence of the Yugoslav Nation, federalism, initially as a political movement, subsequently as a type of state organization, has been continually present in, the country's socio-political life. Federalism has, without any doubt, acquired and retained its important role on the Yugoslav political scene, particularly due to the multi-national composition of the Yugoslav community. Ethnical heterogeneity, made even more apparent by considerable variations in the levels of cultural and economic development of the Yugoslav nations, was indeed the basic source of strength and vitality of the federalist movement, the aspirations and aims of which were, however, only to be attained after the Second World War. On the other hand, paradoxically as it may seem, centralists invoked ethnical, cultural and economic differences, in support of their points of view, i.e. they claimed that only by means of a strong and centralized State could these differences be overcome and conditions created for the rapid and complete integration of the Yugoslav nations. However, on the basis of a study on the 50 years development of Yugoslav society, we can safely claim that these aims can only be achieved if national equality is not impaired and this requires that the multi-natioaal society be organized on the principles of federalism.</p> <p>Although the subject of this work is primarily the evolution of Yugoslav federalism from 1918, i.e. from the time when the South Slavs first formed a common state, to the present day, special attention is directed to the historical background of this question in the post-war period, and, in particular, to the trend in the sphere of inter-nationality relations, and to the important changes in the Yugoslav constitutional system in the course of 1970 and 1971. It is only natural that priority should be given to the study of federalism in socialist Yugoslavia because it was only during and after the Revolution that it was able fully to assert itself, whereas in pre-war Yugoslavia, it only appeared as part of the opposition parties' and movements' programs. The policy of hegemony and national inequality pursued by the royal government was, finally, to lead to the dissolution of the state, which occurred after Yugoslavia was attacked by the Axis Powers in April, 1941. The fact that yugoslavia was reconstructed only four years later can be attributed to the persevering efforts of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which, as early as the mid 1930's, introduced into its programme the struggle for a democratic, socialist and federal Yugoslavia in which the equality of all its nations would be ensured. The aims of the Communist Party, which expressed the aspirations of the vast majority of Yugoslav people were already achieved, in substance, in the course of the Peoples' Liberation War, brought to a successful conclusion in 1945.</p> <p>However, in the first post-war years, there was a certain departure from the principles of federalism, and national equality was partially impaired. The socia-political system of Yugoslavia was created under the strong influence of Soviet theory and practice, and it can be said that Yugoslavia's first Constitution of 1946 was basically a copy of the Soviet Constitution of 1936. This actually meant that federalism existed only formally, while, in reality, the State was organized along rigidly centralistic lines. This system was however, rejected as early as the 1950's, when the Yugoslav Communist Party embarked upon the edification of socialism in accordance with the principles of democratic socialism based on self-management. The concept of self-management was, however, primarily achieved in the economic sphere, whereas centralism was still considerably felt in relations between nations and republics and was reflected in the great political and economic power wielded by the federal organs. The persistence of centralism in the field of inter-nationality relations led to conflicts between the republics and the Federation and between the republics themselves, as well as to the revival of nationalism in the second half of the 1960's which threatened to plunge Yugoslavia into a deeper and lasting crisis. The yugoslav Party leadership sought to solve these problems by radically reducing the federal power and transferring it to the federal units - the republics and provinces. These changes were sanctioned and implemented through the adoption of Constitutional amendments in mid 1971. The essence of these Constitutional changes resides in the fact that all yugoslav republics have assumed the same rights and obligations in the Federation, regardless of their size, economic power or number of inhabitants. Time will show to what extent this new political system will strengthen the Yugoslav multi-national community and create a lasting basis for the full equality of all its peoples. The time that has elapsed since the adoption of the Constitutional changes is not sufficient to permit us to take a final assessment on these questions.</p> <p>Although the author's basic purpose was to familiarize the reader with the specific aspects of the development of Yugoslav federalism, and, thus, to help towards a better understanding of Yugoslav society as a whole, we believe that this work can have a broader significance, as the Yugoslav experience in solving inter-nationality problems and promoting national equality may be of assistance to other multinational communities in the world, faced with similar problems in their development. Finally, certain specifically Yugoslav solutions regarding the organization and functions of the federal state, may serve as contribution to the theory and practice of contemporary federalism.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

<p>It is the obiect of this study to investigate how some contemporary modeis of comparative politics deal with the problem of change over time. In addition, an analysis of the models qua models facilitating comparative political analysis will be provided.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The thesis attempts to construct a theory of the influence of personality on the effect of media on political attitudes and behaviour. Since the media are considered to be part of the environment, the theory is based on assumptlons about personality-environmental interaction. Although the main scope of the thesis is theoretical, a link with the "real world" is established through the use of data which are employed in the construction of three personality types and in the development of a suggested methodological prooedure for testing the theory. This notion of types is the pivotal point of the thesis. It represents an attempt to steer the study of media influence in a new dlrection which emphasises the whole man rather than just one aspect of him, either "social" or psychological.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis forms part of the growing body of literature concerned with the concept of national integration in the context of the Third World.</p> <p>The paper empirically defines national integration in terms of social conflict, as applied to the study of African polities, and questions the thesis of African uniparty theory that unipartyism per se is a direct factor in maintaining a low level of social conflict within the state. It is argued that the concept of unipartyism is itself too wide to be of intrinsic empirical value. The sub-grouping of one-party states according to certain common denominators, however, does provide a vehicle whereby these staes may be compared in their ability to manage and control social conflict.</p> <p>Some methodological questions are raised through the data analysis, since political science is still as yet a science in the state of becoming. But with the analytical tools at hand, resolutions to the problems are presented.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)