Summary Of Federalism Nationalism And Reason By Pierre Trudeau

In the essay, “Federalism, Nationalism, and Reason” Pierre Trudeau addresses the history and origins of self-determination and nationalism and their central role in federal statehood. Further, he described the role of nationalism in a Canadian context, alluding to the Quebecois separatist movement. Trudeau posits two major arguments that will be assessed in this review. First, he postures that that the federal state is driven by self-determination and nationalism, which ultimately makes it unstable due to its foundation in emotionalism rather than reason. Second, Trudeau outlines the historical factors that resulted in the separatist narrative in Quebec and claims that Canadian nationalism cannot combat Quebec’s regional nationalism.

Trudeau

39). Often the glue used to bind nations into a cohesive state is nationalism, however this can also be adopted on a regional level just as easily to propel a separatist movement into action (p. 38). If federal nationalism is used to make distinct nations develop closer ties and prevent divisions, regional nationalism will have a similar effect on the peoples who make up distinct nations, creating the narrative that the nation is different from the rest of the state and may be better off governing itself (p. 39). The only method to prevent regional nationalism from prevailing is to build a more attractive brand of federal nationalism through the promotion of federal imagery and the connection of regional infrastructure to foster the feeling of interconnectivity (p. 39). The central government must also juggle regional autonomy and central authority while adapting to the dynamic nature of each region’s culture and interests, constantly evolving with the particular needs of each region to create a successful federal state (p.

The constitution was written with Canada’s regionalism in mind by constructing safeguards and minority guarantees while excluding overarching principles and ideas that may not be compatible with every region (Trudeau, p. 42). In conjunction with a pragmatic constitution, the central government preserved relations with the provinces by implementing several strategies (p. 42-43). The central government allowed a certain amount of leeway for provinces to countervail constitutional matters that were not connected to the economy, alongside a representative central bureaucracy that made each province feel that their interests were heard by the central government (p. 42). These two strategies allowed for regions to feel that they had power and autonomy because the central government was compromising for them, by doing so the central government prevented feelings of dissatisfaction with regional representation (p. 42). Furthermore, the promotion of Canadian nationalism in the form of celebrating its British heritage brought regions under one identity to try and create an attractive national identity to replace regional nationalism as described previously (p.