Political Science

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Political Science.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 62

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Should Canada Allow Mental Illness as the Sole Underlying Medical Condition for Accessing Medical Assistance in Dying?
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-10) Rossi, Michael
Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) regime was set to expand its eligibility criteria on March 17, 2024, to allow mental illness as an acceptable sole underlying condition (MAID MI-SUMC) until Bill C-62 rapidly received Royal Assent in late February 2024, delaying this expansion until March 17, 2027. Those who oppose allowing mental illness as a sole condition for MAID often cite fears of what would happen in Canada should MAID MI-SUMC become legal. However, proponents counter these claims with relevant facts, statistics, and information to demonstrate that MAID MI-SUMC can be effectively incorporated in Canada. This study uses evidence from countries with MAID but that do not allow MI-SUMC (Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), and countries with MAID MI-SUMC (the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) to examine why these countries oppose and allow this legislation, respectively. Using this evidence, this Thesis then focuses on the Canadian context to address the concerns of opponents on why they are adamant that MAID MI-SUMC should not become an acceptable part of Canada’s MAID regime. Incorporating studies conducted by proponents and evidence from permissive jurisdictions helps to find that opponents’ fears are unsubstantiated. Using a rights-based approach, this Thesis observes that the rights of individuals who solely suffer from a mental illness and wish to access MAID are infringed upon, resulting in a call for legislative changes to occur.
Genocide Spotting: Between Recognition and Prosecution
(University of Waterloo, 2024-05-03) Luko, James
This thesis delves into the challenges of identifying and proving genocide in a court of law, using Bosnia as a case study. Genocide, considered one of the most atrocious human rights violations, involves the deliberate and systemic extermination of a specific ethnic, national, racial, or religious group. The research analyzes the legal definition and judicial process related to genocide, focusing on the parameters outlined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. It examines the difficulty in recognizing and categorizing events as genocide, exploring the political and geostrategic factors influencing identification and international response. The thesis seeks to clarify the obstacles in appropriately identifying and effectively prosecuting genocide in a legal context. Furthermore, it differentiates between the legal complexities and practical requirements and, along with empirical evidence, attempts to dispel the notion that “genocide is overwhelmingly difficult to prove” (if the event meets the legal criteria). The study emphasizes the importance of expert input in assessing potential genocides and highlights the risks of layperson identifications. Ultimately, the research offers recommendations to address the issues explored in this thesis.
Corporate Power and Changes to Provincial Environmental Regulation During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic
(University of Waterloo, 2024-03-14) LaBrash, Danielle
How have Canada’s largest oil producing provinces altered key environmental policies since the onset of COVID-19, in response to the dual pressures of an oil sector in distress and the imperative to reduce emissions? While regulatory changes have been reported in the media, they have not yet been systemically reviewed or explained; this project aims to fill that gap. Oil markets went into crisis in early 2020 as oil prices plummeted following an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia and the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the global community has entered into a critical decade in climate history: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that a sharp reduction in emissions over the next decade is needed to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Government policy interventions in this moment are both determining the future of the oil sector and defining possibilities for climate change mitigation. This thesis analyzes changes to regulations made by the oil-producing provinces of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador at this critical moment. Conducting a full review of provincial regulatory changes during the pandemic, I find that in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic Canada’s oil provinces demonstrated a clear pattern of supporting the oil sector by weakening provincial environmental regulation surrounding the sector. Regulatory changes observed in 2020 can be explained in part by considering corporate power, and strategies used by oil corporations to influence government, in each province. These changes to provincial regulatory frameworks shape Canada’s response to the ongoing economic and climate crises, and further expose Canadians to both the risks of climate change and the economic risk of an oil sector in long-term decline.
Was Bretton Woods Working for the Common Good? Mexico's Advocacy to Consider the Human Implications of the International Monetary and Financial Systems at the Bretton Woods Conference
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-01) Leal Garza, Cynthia Cristina
This research develops a critical reframing that locates Mexico’s articulation for a fairer, more inclusive, and more sustainable approach to the international economic system at the Bretton Woods Conference. This summit is important because it was the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference (July of 1944) that established the bases for the international postwar economic system. This dissertation analyzes Mexico’s participation by drawing on the archival evidence issued by the US government in 1948 and the Mexican officials involved at the time. In addition, a study of Mexican history is presented to provide greater context to the current state of the literature, and specifically an intervention to the literature in North America that considers Mexico’s position at the Bretton Woods Conference. That literature has been based uniquely on Mexico’s foreign relations during a few decades of the 20th century, ignoring the principles that guided Mexican foreign policy since the early 19th century. In this way, this research stresses the broader significance of the Mexican delegation’s claims for Bretton Woods as well as for the fairness and inclusiveness of the multilateral world order itself. Unfortunately, the current state of the literature focuses mainly on Latin America’s contributions from the perspective of what the United States instrumentalized or used to develop the multilateral postwar order. Therefore, this dissertation conscientiously details the ways in which the Mexican delegation advocated for building a more flexible and inclusive international monetary system of the postwar world. This advocacy can be seen in Mexico’s proposals on the quotas for voting the currency exchanges and the inclusion of silver to be considered as collateral for loans. Additionally, Mexico advocated for economic development through its proposals for the IBRD, both for including the goal of development alongside that of reconstruction in the purpose of the bank, as well as questioning the veto power of lending countries. All these proposals lead to reflections that ask Was Bretton Woods Working for the Common Good? Mexico’s Advocacy to Consider the Human Implications of the International Monetary and Financial Systems at the Bretton Woods Conference.
Standards for the control of algorithmic bias in the Canadian administrative context
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-30) Heisler, Natalie
Governments around the world use machine learning in automated decision-making systems for a broad range of functions, including the administration and delivery of healthcare services, education, housing benefits; for surveillance; and, within policing and criminal justice systems. Algorithmic bias in machine learning can result in automated decisions that produce disparate impact, compromising Charter guarantees of substantive equality. The regulatory landscape for automated decision-making, in Canada and across the world, is far from settled. Legislative and policy models are emerging, and the role of standards is evolving to support regulatory objectives. This thesis seeks to answer the question: what standards should be applied to machine learning to mitigate disparate impact in automated decision-making? While acknowledging the contributions of leading standards development organizations, I argue that the rationale for standards must come from the law, and that implementing such standards would help not only to reduce future complaints, but more importantly would proactively enable human rights protections for those subject to automated decision-making. Drawing from the principles of administrative law, and the Supreme Court of Canada’s substantive equality decision in Fraser v. Canada (Attorney General), this research derives a proposed standards framework that includes: standards to mitigate the creation of biased predictions; standards for the evaluation of predictions; and, standards for the measurement of disparity in predictions. Recommendations are provided for implementing the proposed standards framework in the context of Canada’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making.
A Vicious Cycle: An Examination of How the Feedback Loop Between Coup-proofing and Regime Insecurity Helped Facilitate the Rise of Pro-Government Militias in the Syrian Conflict
(University of Waterloo, 2021-09-16) Mohamad, Nizar
This thesis explores the emergence of pro-government militias (PGMs) within the context of the post-2011 intrastate conflict in Syria. It investigates the factors that contributed to the breakdown of Syria’s armed forces during their counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign. By inquiring into the mechanisms that drove the unravelling of Syria’s coercive machinery, this thesis sheds light on why the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad specifically resorted to leveraging irregular forces to which security functions conventionally reserved for the state were outsourced. As such, this thesis asks the following research question: What are the drivers underpinning the employment of PGMs in the post-2011 Syrian conflict? This thesis progresses in four main parts. First, it introduces the purpose, relevance, and methodology of the research, followed by a literature review that engages with the scholarly work surrounding the use of PGMs in COIN settings. Second, it highlights how Syrian President Bashar al-Assad coup-proofed his coercive forces, prioritizing coup risk mitigation over military effectiveness. The subordination of their coercive institutions in accordance with strategies deliberately intended to divide them resulted in a dysfunctional security sector that third, was incapable of cohesively performing combatively and withstanding the advances of insurgents once the uprising had militarized. Fourth, it demonstrates that as the Syrian regime became more insecure, it outsourced greater functions to PGMs in order to compensate for the depletion of the state’s official armed and security forces. This thesis ultimately argues that a vicious cycle between coup-proofing and regime insecurity created a feedback loop that motivated the Syrian regime to resort to incorporating PGMs into its COIN effort.
Challenging Collaborative Consumption at a Critical Juncture: Airbnb in the Matrix of Gentrification and Colonization
(University of Waterloo, 2021-04-30) Vinik, Viktoriya
Ten years since the nationwide J14 housing protests against Israel’s increasing cost of living, affordable housing remains just as scarce, even prompting some city-dwellers to seek cheaper living in West Bank settlements – a military-occupied Palestinian Territory. Given that Israel is often called the Start-Up Nation, Airbnb’s rise in Tel Aviv-Yaffo and West Bank settlements was exceptional. Thus, my thesis aims to determine Airbnb’s role in the Tel Aviv-Yaffo housing crisis and the West Bank settlement economy. My research demonstrates the ways in which Airbnb accelerates the existing historic trends in Tel Aviv-Yaffo and the West Bank by introducing new capital flows via the sharing platforms. While existing Israeli literature on Airbnb’s activity in Tel Aviv-Yaffo has done an adequate job of addressing the phenomenon as a policy and legal issue, none have understood it within Israel-Palestine’s gentrification-colonization matrix. My contribution is applying Anglo gentrification literature to consider how these activities unfold in particular ways within Israel-Palestine’s unique colonial context. Through a post-colonial lens, my thesis reveals how Airbnb has exacerbated the housing crisis by converting residential units into illegal hotels, displaced marginalized Jews in south Tel Aviv-Yaffo, turned human rights violations into tourist attractions, and further displaced Palestinian Arabs living both within and outside the Green Line.
Conservative Economic Nationalism and the National Policy: Rae, Buchanan and Early Canadian Protectionist Thought
(Cambridge University Press, 2019-09) Helleiner, Eric
Two distinct strands of conservative Canadian economic nationalism—associated with the ideas of John Rae and Isaac Buchanan—helped to inform the country’s protectionist National Policy of 1879. These strands of nationalism were much less influenced by Listian ideas than was economic nationalist thought in many other countries at this time. This study of their content, intellectual sources and influence contributes empirically and analytically to debates in Canadian political economy and international political economy, while also advancing historical scholarship. The arguments also have some potential contemporary relevance in an age when protectionist economic nationalism is rising in the US and elsewhere.
Amplifying “Keep It in the Ground” First-Movers: Toward a Comparative Framework
(Society & Natural Resources, 2020-06-17) Carter, Angela V.; McKenzie, Janetta
This article offers a framework for analyzing and extending the recent wave of national “keep it in the ground” (KIIG) bans on fossil fuel exploration and production. We situate this discussion in new theoretical work on decarbonization acceleration and then present an overview of KIIG movement and policy development. Next, drawing on the burgeoning supply side climate policy literature, we outline major barriers to constraining fossil fuel development, then focus on identifying conditions most conducive for KIIG policy. These include locally-rooted campaigns, the development of a pro-KIIG constituency that is horizontally dense and vertically integrated, resonant message framing, and support by well-placed norm entrepreneurs. We argue that early national efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground demark a critical juncture in global climate policy. Understanding the trajectory of these bans is a first step in extending these initiatives as part of the pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Economic Sanctions and Nuclear Non-proliferation: A Comparative Study of North Korea and Iran
(University of Waterloo, 2021-01-14) Morrison, Kallen
The history of using economic sanctions to curb nuclear proliferation has had mixed results. The goal of this research project is to determine why economic sanctions are more effective in some cases than they are in others. The two case studies, North Korea and Iran are examples of the failures and successes of economic sanctions, respectively. In order to understand it is the disparity in outcomes of economic sanctions, a framework of four factors was designed. This framework consists of: limited political contestation within the sanctioned country, economic versus security vulnerability, and the international cooperation mounted against the target state. In Iran’s case, the limited contestation under an authoritarian regime, the desperate need to get oil and gas exports on the international market, relatively low-security concerns, and a coordinated international campaign of economic sanctions explain why the sanctions have thus far prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In North Korea’s case, the absolute nature of its authoritarianism, the insular command economy, high-security concerns, and countries like China and South Korea shielding North Korea from economic sanctions are the reasons why economic sanctions have fallen short in stopping North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons. Future studies of other cases can test this framework of analysis.
Factors Determining Cyber Strategy: the Differences Between Active and Passive Cyber Attacks
(University of Waterloo, 2020-10-16) Engli, Francis William
China and Russia have increased their pursuit of using cyber attacks as an offensive tool in overall state strategy. China pursues passive cyber attacks while Russia pursues active cyber attacks. This study intends to answer the question: what factors encourage China and Russia to pursue differing cyber attack strategies? A review of the current literature reveals that four primary factors influence cyber strategy: economic incentive, international hierarchy, institutional organization, and state interpretation of deterrence. These four factors are analyzed through policy analysis, using documents from NGOs, and government documents from the US, China and Russia. The results conclude that each factor contributes significantly to cyber-strategy; however, state interpretation of deterrence is the only factor that adequately explains China's and Russia’s choices in determining cyber strategy. The study discusses the implications of these findings and possible areas for further research.
Argument and Identity Change in the Atlantic Security Community
(Sage, 2009-02-01) Kitchen, Veronica
The Atlantic community shares more than just dependable expectations of peaceful change. Its members also share a reflexive political community they sense is worth preserving and a view that their security is intertwined. Existing accounts of the Atlantic security community have identified the importance of renewed emphasis on common values as a factor in preserving and expanding the security community after the Cold War. But, debates at the end of the Cold War also turned on the question of what the allies would do together and what responsibilities they had to each other and to other states. This article outlines a discursive framework and a set of rhetorical strategies used by members of the Atlantic community that explain how they worked to maintain and change their community during debates about their mandate for cooperation. This framework is then applied to the Atlantic community's debates over common action during the Yugoslav wars.
Civilisational values and political economy beyond the West: The significance of Korean debates at the time of its economic opening
(Taylor and Francis, 2017-12-06) Helleiner, Eric; Chey, Hyoung-kyu
This paper analyses the prominence of civilisational values in Korean political economy debates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries concerning their country’s dramatic opening to the world economy at the time. Korean supporters of economic opening saw this policy change as part of a wider embrace of Western civilisational values, while opponents argued that their country’s longstanding economic autarchy upheld traditional Neo-Confucian civilisational values that had been imported from China. For international political economy (IPE) scholars interested in the historical relationship between civilisational values and political economy, the analysis shows how these values shaped understandings of international economic relations outside the West in quite distinctive ways. For IPE scholars interested in the diffusion of ideas, the analysis highlights different dynamics involved in the ‘localisation’ of ideas emanating from dominant powers. More generally, the study of this Korean history also contributes to the building of a more ‘inter-civilisational’ approach to IPE today.
Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and Transparency in Canada’s Natural Resource Sector
(University of Waterloo, 2019-08-16) Billedeau, David Benjamin
This study assesses levels of corporate social responsibility and transparency in reporting within Canada’s natural resources sector. The annual reports of the top listed companies (by market capitalization) on the Toronto Stock Exchange are examined for select sustainability key performance indicators. In all, the annual reports of 49 mining companies, 25 oil and gas companies, and 20 utilities and pipeline companies were examined to extract information on: labour; finance; social investment; environment; and, corporate governance. Despite the Government of Canada’s introduction of a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the country is still dependent on natural resource extraction and export for its economic prosperity. Therefore, it is important to understand the broader impact of these operations—as well as the level of transparency these companies are providing to the Canadian public. This research strives to answer four questions concerning the sustainability performance and transparency of major Canadian companies: 1. Are companies operating in Canada’s natural resources sector providing an acceptable degree of transparency to the public? 2. What policy recommendations can be adopted to ensure greater transparency in operations? 3. What are the major areas of concern in CSR performance? 4. Are companies within the natural resources sector aligning with best CSR practices? Data collection and analysis reveals a significant lack of reporting on select key performance indicators, as well as considerably poor sustainability performance in some measures—a deviance that is considered outside of the values signaled by the Government of Canada.
Al-Wala wa-l-Bara and the Western Foreign Fighters of the Islamic State
(University of Waterloo, 2019-04-30) Durrani, Hamid
Addressing the question of the Islamic State’s foreign fighters not only necessitates a thorough understanding of their state of mind or psychology, but also the firm ideological beliefs in their hearts and minds. There are many studies that focus on the earthly pursuits of the Islamic State’s Western fighters but they tend to fall short because they do not adequately address the religious aspects. As it appears, Salafi-jihadism and Wahhabism are the central philosophies of the Islamic State’s religious roots. Heavily relying on qualitative data, this study aims to unveil whether hijrah to the Caliphate or rallying to its cause at home correlates with the Islamic State’s emphasis on the distinctly Salafi and particularly Wahhabi doctrine called al-Wala wa-l-Bara. This study first explains the historical and theological contexts of the doctrine. Second, it examines the extent to which the doctrine was preached by the Islamic State to sway Muslims to support its cause. Third, it examines the statements of some Western foreign fighters of the Caliphate to trace the significance of the doctrine. Finally, through interviews with imams & muftis, it introduces the understanding of the doctrine among Muslims living in Western society. The study reveals that the doctrine was directly introduced or quoted to Muslims living in the Western societies in thirteen of fifteen issues of Dabiq, and in eight of the twelve available issues of Rumiyah. The examined statements of the Western fighters, who fought in the Caliphate, tried to travel to the Caliphate, or raised arms at home, clearly indicated the influence of the doctrine and its importance to their decision-making process and its significance to their everyday life in the West. According to all the imams & muftis interviewed, hijrah to the Islamic State, and terrorist attacks in the West were highly driven by the teachings of al-Wala wa-l-Bara. All the interviewed participants argued that the doctrine is considered a threat, if misinterpreted or misunderstood by an individual.
Dealer Bank Influence and the International Political Economy of Over-the-Counter Derivatives Regulation: The Introduction of Mandatory Margin Requirements for Non-Centrally Cleared Derivatives after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008
(University of Waterloo, 2019-01-23) Spagna, Irene
Prior to the global financial crisis of 2008, large dealer banks exercised strong influence over the regulation of OTC (over-the-counter) derivatives in the United States and the European Union. Has there been any change in their influence over policy outcomes in the regulation of OTC derivatives in these two jurisdictions since the global financial crisis of 2008? If so, why? If not, why not? This thesis addresses these questions by analyzing the post-crisis introduction of mandatory margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives. It argues that this regulatory innovation reveals a significant decrease in dealer bank influence. Shifting from a position of dominance before the crisis, the dealer banks’ influence over this regulatory reform process was significantly reduced. To explain this change, the thesis argues that the influence of dealer bank preferences over regulatory outcomes in this sector is moderated by a number of variables. Based on a survey of literature in international political economy (IPE), it identifies six moderators whose effect individually and jointly shapes the degree of bank influence over policy outcomes: business unity, public issue salience, policy-makers’ ideational outlook, the state of the transnational policy community, inter-state power relations, and the domestic institutional environment. Prior to the crisis, all six moderators individually and jointly operated to the banks’ advantage. The crisis, however, caused an exogenous shock to the system, resulting in a fundamental reconfiguration, and corresponding reduction in influence. Theoretically, this dissertation speaks to the literature analyzing private financial sector influence over financial regulation. Specifically, it contributes to the literature that conceives of ‘influence over policy outcomes’ as a moderated condition by exploring the role of the six variables in moderating the influence of dealer bank preferences over regulatory outcomes in this sector. Empirically, it provides the first detailed analysis of some important elements of the margin reform, which, despite the enormous significance of derivatives to the global economy, has received little scholarly attention. The margin reform represents a sea change in terms of the governance of the uncleared market, but it has not been accompanied with broader change reaching beyond the efforts of addressing ‘systemic risk’.
Privatizing Security, Securitizing Policing: The Case of the G20 in Toronto, Canada
(Wiley, 2014-06) Kitchen, Veronica; Rygiel, Kim
Allegations of police brutality, unlawful detention, and other breaches of civil liberties during the G20 in Toronto in June 2010 provide an important case through which to understand the changing nature of security and policing, raising questions about the political implications of such shifts in terms of police accountability, transparency, and democracy. Within the field of public policing, scholars predicted that globalization processes would weaken public policing as a dominant policing institution. Instead, it has expanded, in part, through the convergence of internal and international dimensions of security, whereby new policy networks cooperate in matters of policing and security in a new integrated model, the result of which is a further militarization of urban space and expanded markets for security, leading to the securitization of everyday life. This article examines the case of Toronto's hosting of the G20 and the role that the Integrated Security Unit—led by the RCMP and including private security firms—played. By focusing on the role of multilateral networks that include private sector actors, we examine the implications of the privatization and securitization of policing for democracy, citizenship, and accountability, looking at how they affect the ability of publics to engage in public debate, to consult, or to protest policies.
Veterans and military masculinity in popular romance fiction
(Taylor & Francis, 2018) Kitchen, Veronica
Although popular culture has become an important area of study in international relations, few scholars so far have turned their attention to popular romance fiction, despite its popularity among readers. Through an analysis of contemporary category romances featuring military heroes, and combining the scholarship on popular romance fiction with that of security studies, I open a new area of study for scholars of security. I argue that the structure of the romance genre – which requires the hero and heroine to fall and love and be happy at the end of the novel – reinforces particular kinds of politics. First, the focus on intimate relationships closes off broader critiques of global politics. Second, the focus on the home front reinforces the idea that there is no possible distinction between a peaceful home front to be protected and an international space of war. Third, heroes dealing with grief, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other problems of a return to civilian life after deployment are portrayed as turning chaos into quest, again through a courtship narrative. Because of the familiar settings and stories that ‘feel true’, popular romance fiction is a site for the reproduction of specific kinds of military masculinity and military families. While these fictional accounts can have the beneficial effect of providing more nuanced portrayals of possible intimate lives of soldiers, they also close off critiques of politics and help to order a resilient, war-ready society and reinforce these images among readers who may not otherwise seek out non-fictional stories about the military.
NATO’s Out of Area Norm from Suez to Afghanistan
(Taylor & Francis, 2010) Kitchen, Veronica
The Atlantic community shares more than just dependable expectations of peaceful change. Its members also share a reflexive political community they sense is worth preserving and a view that their security is intertwined. Existing accounts of the Atlantic security community have identified the importance of renewed emphasis on common values as a factor in preserving and expanding the security community after the Cold War. But, debates at the end of the Cold War also turned on the question of what the allies would do together and what responsibilities they had to each other and to other states. This article outlines a discursive framework and a set of rhetorical strategies used by members of the Atlantic community that explain how they worked to maintain and change their community during debates about their mandate for cooperation. This framework is then applied to the Atlantic community's debates over common action during the Yugoslav wars.
Canada en(counters) terrorism: US-Canada relations and counter-terrorism policy
(Taylor and Francis, 2009-01-15) Kitchen, Veronica; Sasikumar, Karthika
This paper examines the role of identity in shaping counter-terrorism policy in Canada. We show that identity functions in three ways: constitutively by defining the range of choices a state is likely to consider; strategically by being a resource to buttress arguments based in economic or sovereignty interests; and heuristically by using identity as a marker for risk. This three-faceted explanation helps explain why, despite close economic, social, and political links between Canada and the United States which might lead us to expect Canada to follow American counter-terrorism policy, Canadian counter-terrorism policy often diverges from the American lead.

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