1. POLICY GRIDLOCK VERSUS POLICY SHIFT IN GUN POLITICS: A Comparative Veto Player Analysis of Gun Control Policies in the United States and Canada/Bloqueo politico frente a cambio de politica en la politica de armas: una explication comparativa de Veto Player acerca de las politicas de control de armas en los Estados Unidos y Canada
- Author
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Kamal, Rifat Darina and Burton, Charles
- Subjects
United States -- Social policy ,Canada -- Social policy ,Columbine High School Shootings, 1999 -- Casualties ,Newtown, Connecticut School Shootings, 2012 -- Casualties ,Montreal Massacre, 1989 -- Casualties ,Gun violence -- Casualties ,Gun control -- Laws, regulations and rules -- Comparative analysis -- Political aspects ,Veto -- Usage ,Government regulation ,International relations - Abstract
Why do major events of gun violence (i.e., mass shootings) lead to incremental change or no federal legislative change at all in the United States while major events of gun violence have resulted in large-scale legislative changes in Canada ? Exploring the complexities involved in this compelling question, this article conducts a comparative analysis of recent gun control policy gridlock and shift in these two countries. We concentrate on two mass shooting cases in each country: the Columbine (1990) and Sandy Hook (2012) massacres in the United States and the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre (1989) and Concordia Shooting (1992) in Canada. We use veto player theory to gain insights into why tightening gun policy is so difficult to implement in the United States while Canada often follows up with policy transformations after a focusing event. This theory informs the central argument that the key factors underpinning the divergent policy outcomes on gun control issues in both countries involve differences in the structure of government/institutional design and the role and power of interest groups in each case.Keywords: Gun Control, Firearms Restrictions, Gun Violence, Mass Shootings, Regulation Policy, Interest Groups, Comparative Public Policy, Institutional Design, Veto Player Theory, Canada, United States, National Rifle Association, Coalition for Gun Control.La divergencia entre las respuestas a la politica de armas despues de un evento de enfoque (por ejemplo, un evento de violencia con armas) en los Estados Unidos y en Canada se debe a la estructura del gobierno y el papel de las instituciones. Otros factores, como la cultura politica, no son tan significativos como estos factores en la manipulacion del proceso politico. En ambas naciones, la mayoria de los ciudadanos apoyan las restricciones a laposesion depistolasy rifles de asalto. La teoria de Veto Player explica las razones por las que la politica de armas se esta volviendo mas estricta es tan dificil para implementar en los Estados Unidos, mientras que en Canada hay transformaciones politicas despues de un evento de enfoque.Palabras clave: Politica Publica Comparativa; Control de Armas; Grupos de Interes, Ajustes Institucionales, Teoria de Veto Player, Canada, EE. UU., Estados Unidos.[phrase ommited], The twentieth century's debate over gun control has long been a challenging and divisive issue in both the United States and Canada. Between 2001 and 2014, there were 440,095 deaths [...]
- Published
- 2018