WHAT KIND OF DEMOCRACY DO CANADIANS WANT

This article analyzes the recent constitutional turmoil in Canada by a rguing that disenchantment with political institutions can be traced t o confusion and indecision about the kind of democratic regime Canadia ns want. Using the work of Johan Olsen and James March, the author out lines two models of democratic political institutions, both centred on the concept of popular sovereignty but each offering its own version of how popular rule is to be achieved and legitimated. While the Canad ian state was originally established on ''integrative'' principles and processes, recent years witnesses the rise of ''aggregative'' ideals. This development has had a profound effect on constitutional politics as well as on ''normal'' politics. The result is that Canadians now h ave a different democracy than the one they inherited from their Briti sh forebears, one with its own capacity to generate stalemate and disa ppointment.