Friday 8 May 2015

Advice for Premier Notley: The US File

There was a political earthquake in Alberta this week as Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party ended 44 years of Tory Party dominance in Alberta. The excitement (shock for many) of victory now turns to the even larger challenge of actual governance. Premier Notley has yet to announce who will hold some of the most important portfolios in the new government, but there are several posts that will be important where the United States is concerned; Energy, Environment, International and Intergovernmental Relations (IIR), and the Premier herself.

For this blog post, I thought I'd imagine what I'd say if Premier Notley were to call seeking some advice on how to engage the United States (my invoice is in the mail).

Monday 4 May 2015

Cry and Sigh Congress....

As many of you who read this blog know, I am a big fan of the Federalist Papers, a series of newspaper articles written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in between October 1787 and August 1788 at the height of the debate over ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Two of the most important of these are the Federalist 10 and 51 in which James Madison outlines both the challenges of designing government (No. 10) and then (along with Hamilton) offers his prescription for doing so (No. 51).

For those who care to read these two documents, the seeds of the supposed paralysis in the American political system can be found. The (in)famous separation of powers that sets up the brutal competition for authority among the three branches of government is-- brace yourselves-- all by design!!!!! I happen to be a fan of this design, in part because of its frustrating ability to short-circuit the "mischiefs of faction" (No. 10) and thwart the concentration of power (No. 51). 

One area in which the interbranch competition has frustrated many Americans is with respect to the War Powers. The so-called "Enumerated Powers" of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that the Congress has the sole power to declare war. Yet, Madison's division of labor over most issues in the design of the Constitution also assigns the responsibility of "Commander in Chief" of the armed forces to the President in Article II Section 2. While the Constitution manages to distribute a range of authorities across the three branches in ways that set up competition, that competition is a little different where the War Powers are concerned; Congress regularly capitulates to the President.

Redefining the Floor....Down

I was scrolling through some YouTube clips the other day and came across the great Seinfeld episode in which Frank Costanza invites Seinfeld...