Constitutional Peace, Political Order, or Good Government? Organizing and Assessing Scholarly Views on the 2008 Prorogation

Abstract

In this paper, I report the views of 25 constitutional scholars on the 2008 prorogation. Using a mixed methods approach, support within the sample for propositions published between 2008 and 2012 is presented. A large majority agree that the governor general had discretion in 2008 to refuse the prime minister. Most hold the 2008 prorogation harmed principles of responsible government, and a majority favour the development of a cabinet manual to outline roles and responsibilities to avoid future crises. Based on the survey data, I propose 4 unique schools of thought on this event, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and consider how the method I model can be used in future research.