Intérêts nationaux et coopération multilatérale : le Canada et les banques de développement

This article examines the place held by multilateral development banks in Canada's policy of external cooperation. It seeks to show how, in keeping with the overall logic of its aid policy, Canada's participation in these international financial institutions has resulted from a many-sided configuration of political, development al, and economic interests. The purpose of this article finds it s justification first of all in the fact that, by focusing mainly on bilateral assistance programs, the literature on Canadian aid has largely neglected the study of the many channels for distributing multilateral assistance

Le Canada et le régime international de l’aide

This article examines the conditions of production for Canadian policy in development and. Traditionally, analysis of Canadian aid has followed either a pluralistic, statist or neo-marxist theoretical approach. Noting the inadequacy of these forms of explanation, the author proposes an interpretation of Canadian aid based on the concept of « international community. » This concept can be defined as being the totality of decision-making principles, norms, rules and procedures that structure the expectations and behaviours of those involved in areas dealing with international relations.By resorting to this notion of international community, this study intends to demonstrate that the conditions of production for Canadian aid encompass two kinds of determinism. First, on the systemic level Canadian policy can be perceived as the result of external pressures to put in place an international aid community that contributes to regulating North-South relations. Second, on the national level Canadian aid can be seen as the product of internal power relationships which translate into pressures on the State to modify its participation in the international aid community so as to ensure the promotion of specific political interests

Public Opinion and Global Justice

The concept of global justice has been developed to stress the worldwide implications of moral problems. Not much, however, has been written about the actual politics of global justice. This article focuses on public opinion and argues that attitudes about international redistribution are not a simple projection of attitudes about the domestic situation. In countries where domestic income redistribution is seen as an important priority, foreign aid is less popular; where this is less so, there is more concern for the fate of the poor in the South. Far from reflecting a lack of coherence in public opinion, these counterintuitive results need to be understood in connection with policy achievements in donor countries. The authors' empirical findings suggest that although the commitment to redistribute is stronger at the national level, relationships of solidarity do not stop at national boundaries. The achievement of justice at home in fact sustains justice abroad

Le régime interaméricain de citoyenneté : acquis et défis

Surtout grâce à l’OÉA, les années récentes ont donné lieu à un important renforcement de la coopération interaméricaine en matière de droits humains et de démocratie. Malheureusement, à ce jour, fort peu d'attention a été accordée à la manière dont ces deux champs d'activité s'articulent l'un à l'autre. La notion de « régime interaméricain de citoyenneté » contribue précisément à combler cette lacune. Elle permet en effet de saisir les changements qu'a récemment connus l'hémisphère dans les domaines des droits humains et de la démocratie comme étant deux facettes d'un seul et même processus : la transformation des conditions d'intégration des citoyens à une communauté interaméricaine en construction. Fondée sur une démarche historique, la première section de l'article explique comment le travail de l’OÉA dans les domaines des droits humains et de la démocratie a permis de transformer la relation État-citoyen dans les Amériques. La seconde partie montre ensuite que la consolidation du régime interaméricain de citoyenneté reste confrontée à de nombreux défis de taille.Thanks largely to the OAS, recentyears have brought about a strengthening of inter-American cooperation in the areas of human rights and democracy. Unfortunately, to date, very little attention has been devoted to the manner in which these two fields of activity are inter-connected. The main objective of our study is to bridge this gap. Using the notion of « inter-American regime of citizenship », we interpret the evolution of hemispheric debates regarding human rights and democracy as two sides of the same process : the changing mode of integration ofcitizens into an emerging inter-American community. Informed by a historical approach, thefirst part of the article explains how, over the pastfew decades, the relationship between citizens and the state has been changing throughout the Americas. The second section then analyzes the various challenges to the consolidation of the inter-American regime of citizenship

Divided Over Internationalism : The Canadian Public and Development Assistance

This analysis of public opinion towards foreign aid shows that Canadians are divided over internationalism. First, while most citizens agree that development assistance is important, their support often remains shallow, unmatched by a commitment to undertake concrete actions. Second, the attitudes Canadians hold toward development assistance indicate that there is a clear division in the country’s public between liberal and conservative internationalists, a cleavage that is anchored in domestic ideological and partisan differences. In many ways comparable to what is found in other countries, the internationalism of Canadians does not appear as vigorous and as consensual as is often suggested

Political Parties and Foreign Aid

The influence of partisan politics on public policy is a much debated issue of political science. With respect to foreign policy, often considered as above parties, the question appears even more problematic. This comparison of foreign aid policies in 16 OECD countries develops a structural equation model and uses LISREL analysis to demonstrate that parties do matter, even in international affairs. Social-democratic parties have an effect on a country's level of development assistance. This effect, however, is neither immediate nor direct. First, it appears only in the long run. Second, the relationship between leftist partisan strength and foreign aid works through welfare state institutions and social spending. Our findings indicate how domestic politics shapes foreign conduct. We confirm the empirical relevance of cumulative partisan scores and show how the influence of parties is mediated by other political determinants

Un demi-siècle d’aide au développement

L'article analyse l'aide au développement comme un enjeu dont la nature même est définie par le débat politique qu'il suscite entre la droite et la gauche. Mis à jour, ce débat fait apparaître une dynamique simple mais permanente : la gauche est plus favorable à l'aide que la droite. Le gros de la démonstration explique comment le clivage droite-gauche permet de réexaminer les principales étapes de l'histoire de l'aide depuis ses débuts. Une seconde partie, plus courte, résume le bilan que, chacune de leur côté, la droite et la gauche tracent d'un demi-siècle de coopération au développement. Finalement, la conclusion évoque l'apport de cette contribution par rapport à l'étude de l'aide et des politiques sociales.International development aid is the focus of this article, in which the claim is made that the basic nature of this international institution is shaped by political debate between right and left. Analysis of this debate reveals a simple but constant dynamic — the left has always favoured aid more than the right. The larger part of the analysis recounts how the left-right cleavage is helpful in understanding the history of international aid since its beginnings. A shorter second part summarises the balance sheet, for right and left, of a half century of international aid. Finally, the conclusion indicates the contribution of this analysis to understanding social policies