Not this Time: Canadians, Public Policy and the Marijuana Question, 1961–1975, Marcel Martel, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006, pp. x, 277.

It is said of the 1960s, “If you can remember them, you weren't really there.” For those who need a refresher course, this book is an alternative to time travel. For the younger, post-1970s generation who literally were not there, this book tells them all they ever need to know about the history of Canada's marijuana laws and why they have been so resistant to change. Considering that nearly three quarters of this current crop of young adults has tried marijuana, according to the Canadian Addiction Survey of 2004, perhaps they should be asking why the drug of choice for so many is still illegal. Martel's detailed snapshot of this crucial 15-year period sets out the actors, forces and political pressures that are still very much a part of the ongoing and unresolved debate on drug policy reform in Canada.

The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, Monica Prasad, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006 pp. 328, ix.

Following the Second World War many western democracies embarked on an expansion of their respective welfare states. This effort would be effectively stopped, even reversed, with the development of neoliberal policies within established parties of the right. In other states, neoliberalism was effectively blocked from affecting public policy. Monica Prasad's book is an effort to explain the success or failure of neoliberalism in western democracies.

Agir maintenant pour le Québec de demain, sous la direction de Luc Godbout., Luc Godbout, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2006, 264 pages.

L'ouvrage Agir maintenant pour le Québec de demain s'est fixé trois objectifs. Le premier est de mettre en lumière les positions divergentes des Lucides et des Solidaires; le second est d'ouvrir le dialogue entre les tenants de l'une et l'autre tendance; le troisième est de trouver des pistes de solutions qui pourront assurer le maintien des programmes sociaux tels qu'ils existent aujourd'hui pour les générations futures. On peut affirmer que l'ouvrage atteint le premier et le troisième objectifs, mais on ne peut en dire autant du second objectif, puisque le dialogue semble pour le moins difficile.

Business and Environmental Politics in Canada, Douglas MacDonald, Peterborough ON: Broadview Press, 2007, pp. xi, 224.

Whether because of Al Gore, increasingly stern warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the strange weather of late, this past year has seen political actors of all stripes—business leaders prominent among them—restate their commitment to the environment. MacDonald's new book is thus a timely contribution, offering a historical perspective that may lead readers to treat the latest round of corporate “greening” with caution. This study of shifting business interests, strategies and power in relation to environmental policy making demonstrates how firms have worked over the last fifty years, notwithstanding public statements and even some sincere efforts to the contrary, to minimize the threats posed by new environmental regulations.

Building States without Society: European Union Enlargement and the Transfer of EU Social Policy to Poland and Hungary, Beate Sissenich, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007, pp. xiv, 237.

Social policy has been a crucial and at times controversial area for the European Union, yet it remains limited in scope and clout. EU social policy is not a major annoyance of a kind to alarm employers nor does it present labour unions with tantalizing opportunities for social change. It does not deal with redistribution politics and does not establish an EU-level welfare state. Important topics are left out. In the negotiations before the 2004 enlargement, the issues of mobility and the freedom of movement of persons—politically charged issues in view of the fears on the part of some older members of a significant influx of workers from new lower-wage EU states—were handled in a separate negotiating chapter.