NCJ Number
124453
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1990) Pages: 70-97
Date Published
1990
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article examines the capital punishment debate in Canada in the context of its effect on the power of the State over the individual.
Abstract
A review of literature that addresses the hypothesis that increasingly conservative governments are associated with the law and order movement is provided. The Canadian experience is examined to determine whether such a hypothesis applies to a government that is neither as conservative nor as capitalistic as other countries such as the United States and Great Britain, which are the more frequent targets of such research. A debate held in 1987 by the Canadian Parliament on a motion to reinstate the death penalty in Canada is described. The discussion centers around whether the death penalty debate, a typical law and order issue, will provide any evidence as to what ideological purposes are served by law and order issues, and what role they play in the manufacture of consent in capitalist societies. The current state of theory on law and order in Canada is discussed in conjunction with the reconstruction of the events surrounding the parliamentary debate. Elaborations are then provided on the implications derived from the debate with regard to the theory of law and order in Canada and capitalist societies generally. 6 notes and 24 references.