Ruling Canada
Corporate Cohesion and Democracy
Brownlee, Jamie
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing, Halifax, Canada
Year Published: 2005
Pages: 140pp Price: $16.95 ISBN: 978-1552661567
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX8160
Abstract:
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From publisher:
Brownlee has updated and expanded the debate of Canadian elite theorists (Porter, Clement, Carroll et) by elucidating that the corporate elite act as a class-they are a "class conscious" group and an overtly political one that aims to consciously restructure the Canadian political economy along neoliberal lines. This class unity is defined in three broad levels. First structure-the concentration of of ownership, interlocking directorships (directors who sit on two or more board of directors). Secondly public policy and the use of think tanks (ex. Fraser institute, C. D. Howe) and intersectoral policy organizations which provide a forum for articulating policies that affect most large corporations (ex. Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufactures and Exporters Association). His third level is the interpersonal-the political, social and interpersonal ties that unites this political class force and gives lie to the pluralistic idea that multiple channels exist in which citizens can shape public policy. Brownlee's book is not designed as a catalogue of what is to be done about the corporate elite but an analys of and understanding of how neoliberal concepts become operational in the world.
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