The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective

The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective is the first scholarly study of the Senate in over a quarter century and the first analysis of the upper house as one chamber of a bicameral legislature. David E. Smith's aim in this work is to demonstrate the interrelationship of the two chambers and the constraints this relationship poses for Senate reform. He analyses past literature on the Senate and current proposals for reform - such as a Triple-E Senate - and compares Canada's upper chamber with those of Australia, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, noting a revival of interest in Canada and abroad in upper chambers and bicameralism.

Drawing on parliamentary debates and committee reports, as well as a range of broad secondary sources, The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective examine the Canadian Senate within the international context, shedding light on its role as a political institution and arguing for a renewed investigation into its future.

'David Smith's study is an elegantly written analysis that canvasses the many criticisms and other commentaries on the Senate over the years, and comes out with a careful presentation of reform suggestions that are calculated to preserve the essential valuable characteristics of that body, yet contribute to its improvement. He is careful also to make suggestions that are achievable under the restrictive constraints of the current Canadian constitution. Since Senate reform is an ongoing and still unaccomplished issue in Canada, this study is clearly relevant in the present-day politics of the country.'

-Hugh Thorburn, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Studies, Queen's University

David E. Smith is a professor emeritus in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.