A comprehensive account of the structure, process and influence of interest groups and their behaviour in the political systems of Canada and the USA.

Originally published in 1973, the main objectives of this study were to bring together a comprehensive amount of empirical information on the structure and process of interest groups and the nature of their interaction and influence vis-á-vis government (a great deal of such information existed regarding the USA but the subject had been somewhat neglected in the case of Canada) and also to provide a theoretical explanation of interest groups in the political process by a comparative analysis of their behaviour in the two different political and cultural systems of Canada and the USA. The implications of the study are developed within the framework of the theory of elite accommodation, which attempts to explain interest-group behaviour in the context of the larger socio-political system. Arguing that Canada should be included in the category of 'consociational' societies - i.e. relatively stable societies characterised by deep cleavages of religion and ethnicity, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland - the author shows how accommodation between governmental and private elites encourages democratic stability in Canada in two ways: in a 'nation-saving' context and also on the operational level of allocating social resources.

Originally published in 1974, this volume presents the results of a five-year study into interest groups, funded by the Canada Council.

Expanding on the theoretical framework for studying and practicing public relations around the world, The Global Public Relations Handbook, Revised and Expanded Edition extends the discussion in the first volume on the history, development, and current status of the public relations industry from a global perspective. This revised edition offers twenty new chapters in addition to the original contents. It includes fourteen additional country- or regionally-focused chapters exploring public relations practice in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Contributors use a theoretical framework to present information on the public relations industry in their countries and regions. They also focus on such factors as the status of public relations education in their respective countries and professionalism and ethics. Each country-specific chapter includes a case study typifying public relations practice in that country. Additional new chapters discuss political economy, activism, international public relations, and United Nations public affairs.

This volume examines 150 years of Canadian political life in light if one of the country's most intractable problems, its cultural identity. Although many thoughtful Canadians remain dubious about the existence of a truly Canadian way of life, Douglas Verney argues that in fact Canada's political traditions embody and reflect a unique culture; and that although the Canadian government has been the primary instrument for nurturing this culture, it has been at the same time the entity most guilty of obscuring and ignoring it.