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    Statecraft
    Canadian Prime Ministers and Their Cabinets

    Stephen Azzi (Author), Patrice Dutil (Author)

    9781487558963

    Hardback, published 9 September 2025

    522 pages, 22 b&w figures
    23.5 x 15.9 x 2.8 cm, 0.84 kg

    Statecraft delves into the intricate relationships between Canadian prime ministers and their cabinets since Confederation. Through twenty critical essays, leading scholars systematically analyse the challenges and decisions faced by individual prime ministers from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau. The essays explore essential questions: What influenced cabinet appointments? How and why were ministers shuffled or dismissed? How did the drive for re-election shape the leadership styles employed by prime ministers?
    At its core, the book examines statecraft – the art of decisive leadership in the face of shifting social, economic, and cultural realities. Statecraft involves the balancing act of maintaining government cohesion, prioritizing urgent issues, and navigating the relentless pursuit of political survival. Even the most seasoned leaders can master statecraft one day and falter the next.
    Drawing on extensive research, Statecraft bridges history and political science, offering fresh perspectives on the strategies, decisions, and leadership techniques that have defined twenty prime ministers. This comprehensive volume sheds light on the evolving art of governance and its enduring challenges.

    List of Images
    List of Tables
    Acknowledgments

    Introduction: The Idea of Cabinet Government
    Patrice Dutil and Stephen Azzi

    1. Statecraft: Theory and the Thirst for History
    Patrice Dutil and Stephen Azzi

    2. Sir John A. Macdonald and His Cabinets: The “Autocrat” in Power
    Patrice Dutil

    3. Alexander Mackenzie’s Statecraft: Looking for Stability Ex-Centrically
    Ben Forster

    4. The Cabinet in Chronic Crisis: The Lessons of Abbott, Thompson, Bowell, and Tupper
    Ted Glenn

    5. Pillars and Posts: Wilfrid Laurier’s Cabinet Management
    J.P. Lewis

    6. The Outsider: Robert Borden and his Cabinet
    John English

    7. Arthur Meighen: The Lost Opportunities of Leadership
    Mary Janigan and Tom Kierans

    8. Cabinet Management after the Collapse of the Two-Party System: Mackenzie King in the 1920s
    Robert Wardhaugh

    9. R.B. Bennett’s “One-Man Government”
    Larry Glassford

    10. Mackenzie King’s Upgrading of Prime Ministerial Power: Management, Luck, and Circumstance
    Robert Bothwell

    11. Louis St-Laurent: The Cabinet’s Centre of Gravity
    Stephen Azzi

    12. John Diefenbaker: The Chief Stands Alone
    Patricia I. McMahon

    13. Lester Pearson and Cabinet Government: The Diplomat in Charge
    P.E. Bryden

    14. Pierre Inter Pares: Cabinet under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–1979
    Asa McKercher

    15. “Welcome to the 1980s”: Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Quasi-Gaullist Style
    Frédéric Boily

    16. Brian Mulroney: Statecraft for Radical Change
    Raymond B. Blake

    17. Jean Chrétien: The “Friendly Dictator”
    Lori Turnbull

    18. Paul Martin’s Cabinet: The Unforgiving Consequences of Flawed Statecraft
    Patrice Dutil and Stephen Azzi

    19. Stephen Harper: Alone at the Top
    R. Paul Wilson

    20. Justin Trudeau: “Government by Cabinet is Back”
    Jeni Armstrong, Alex Marland, and Dan Arnold

    Conclusion: The Mysterious Grammar of Canadian Statecraft
    Stephen Azzi and Patrice Dutil

    Contributors
    Index
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