Insiders and Outsiders: Alan Cairns and the Reshaping of Canadian Citizenship

Joseph Garcea is a professor of political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan.

Alan C. Cairns is a brilliant yet humble political scientist who
strongly believes that everyone living on Canadian soil should be viewed
as “insiders.” And he encourages everyone to think and act as if
they were.

Insiders and Outsiders is a splendid collection of insightful,
well-written essays by leading political scientists, produced in honour
of Cairns. The editors have designed the work to serve two objectives:
first, to provide an understanding of both the academic approach and
findings contained in the vast body of writings that Cairns has produced
during his prodigious career; and second, to shed even more light on
some of those aspects of the Canadian political system that Cairns has
devoted his life to studying. This includes analyses of the electoral
system, the federal system, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the
tension between Quebec autonomy/sovereignty and Canadian unity, the
relations between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals, and Canadian
diversity and social cohesion. As was the case with Cairns’s writing,
collectively these themes touch on almost every major aspect of the
Canadian political system and the politics that pervade therein.

Readers who are interested in Canadian political institutions and
politics will find any of the chapters informative and sometimes
topical. All are relatively easy to read and, like good movies work on
many different levels. The book should be read by anyone who is seeking
an overview of Canada’s political landscape or who just wants to
understand the nature and value of Cairns’s contribution to that
landscape.