Will Kymlicka

Federalism and the Welfare State in a Multicultural World

Edited by Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Richard Johnston, Will Kymlicka and John Myles, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018

Until the 1990s social policy played an integrative role in Canada, providing a counter-narrative to claims that federalism and diversity undermine the potential of social policy. Today, however, the Canadian model is under strain, reflecting changes in both the welfare state and the immigration-citizenship-multiculturalism regime. Federalism and the Welfare State in a Multicultural World illustrates that there are clear trends that, if unchecked, may exacerbate rather than overcome important social cleavages. The editors argue that we are at a crucial moment to re-evaluate the role of social policy in a federal state and a multicultural society, and if federalism and diversity challenge traditional models of the nation-building function of social policy, they also open up new pathways for social policy to overcome social divisions. Complacency about, or naive celebration of, the Canadian model is unwarranted, but it is premature to conclude that the model is irredeemably broken, or that all the developments are centrifugal rather than centripetal. Social policy is integral to mitigating divisions of class, region, language, race, and ethnicity, and its underlying values of solidarity and risk-sharing also make it a critical mechanism for nation-building. Whether social policy actually accomplishes these goals is variable and contested. The essays in this volume provide some timely answers.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction: The Progressive's Dilemma, Richard Johnston, John Myles, Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, and Will Kymlicka
  2. Complex Diversity and the Multiple Pathways to Social Policy, Keith Banting
  3. Part 1: Federalism and the Welfare State
  4. Is Canadian Federalism Market Preserving? The View from the Bond Markets, Kyle Hanniman
  5. Quebec's New Politics of Redistribution Meets Austerity, Alain Noël
  6. Designing a Basic Income Guarantee for Canada, Robin Boadway, Katherine Cuff, and Kourtney Koebel
  7. Federalism, Race, and the American Welfare State, Paul Pierson
  8. Political Institutions and the Welfare State in Canada and the United States, R. Kent Weaver
  9. Part 2: Federalism, Immigration, and Diversity
  10. Canada's Changing Citizenship Regime Through the Lens of Immigration and Integration, Jane Jenson and Mireille Paquet
  11. Three Hypotheses on the Relevance of Federalism for the Politics of Immigration and Welfare, Edward Anthony Koning
  12. Is There a Tradeoff Between Ethnic Diversity and Redistribution? The Case of Income Assistance in Canada, David A. Green and W. Craig Riddell
  13. Part 3: Diversity and Solidarity
  14. Multiculturalism Policy and Support for the Welfare State, Stuart Soroka, Matthew Wright, Irene Bloemraad, and Richard Johnston
  15. Does Everyone Cheer? The Politics of Immigration and Multiculturalism in Canada, Randy Besco and Erin Tolley
  16. The Life and Death of Multiculturalism, David Miller