With a foreword by former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis brings together journalists, political scientists, and leading constitutional experts to analyse the parliamentary crisis of November 2008 and to discuss the nature of Canada's democracy.

Edited by Peter H. Russell and Lorne Sossin
Foreword by The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

Foreword The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Introduction Peter H. Russell and Lorne Sossin
Part One: The Events and Their Background
The 'Crisis': A Narrative Michael Valpy
A Crisis Not Made in a Day Gary Levy
Part Two: The Governor General's Decision to Prorogue
To Prorogue or Not to Prorogue: Did the Governor General Make the Right Decision? C.E.S. (Ned) Franks
The Governor General's Suspension of Parliament: Duty Done or a Perilous Precedent? Andrew Heard
Prime Minister Harper's Parliamentary 'Time Out': A Constitutional Revolution in the Making? Lorraine E. Weinrib
Part Three: Constitutional Conventions
Why the Governor General Matters Brian Slattery
When Silence Isn't Golden: Constitutional Conventions, Constitutional Culture, and the Governer General Lorne Sossin and Adam Dodek
Of Representation, Democracy, and Legal Principles: Thinking about the Impensé Jean Leclair and Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens
Part Four: Coalitions and Parliamentary Government
Coalition Government: When It Happens, How It Works Lawrence Leduc
Learning to Live with Minority Parliaments Peter H. Russell
The Coalition That Wasn't: A Lost Reform Opportunity Graham White
Part Five: Tensions in Canada's Democratic Culture
Western Canada and the 'Illegitimacy' of the Liberal-NDP Coalition Government Grace Skogstad
Parliamentary Democracy versus Faux Populist Democracy Jennifer Smith
Ultimately, the System Worked David R. Cameron
Contributors
Index