On The Study Of Federal Capitals: A Review Article

Abstract

It is fitting that Canada, as one of the world's leading federations, should play host to important ventures in the study of federal capitals, and in the analysis of how these capitals are governed and financed. A generation ago it was Canadian professor of political science Donald Rowat who produced the first anthology of these capitals. His edited book, with 17 case studies contributed by leading scholars of the time, provided excellent coverage of its subject and has remained the major text in the field for over 30 years. But there have been important developments in the field since Rowat's book was published by University of Toronto Press (Rowat 1973), and we can be thankful that another Canada-based team has produced a sequel volume that brings the story up-to-date and extends it in significant ways (Slack & Chattopadhyay 2009).