Neoliberalism, Authoritarian-Populism, and the “Photo-Op Democracy” of the Publicity State: Changes to Legislative and Parliamentary Norms by the Harper Government

摘要: Several recent reports seek to evaluate the impact of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Canadian democracy by documenting his government's efforts curtail established democratic processes and mechanisms for public debate. However, this article uses examples changes legislative parliamentary norms demonstrate that multi-directional debate were importantly accompanied amplify unidirectional communication partisan messages. The paper finds corresponding emphasis exemplified a “photo-op” approach democracy, which highlights points compatibility between seemingly contradictory authoritarian-populist “publicity state” neoliberal ideals. This research demonstrates necessity attention government in analysis sphere. It also illustrates pragmatic rather than doctrinaire nature New Right politics Canada affinity approaches governance.