Aborigines in Canada and India

Comparative politics is one of the modes of comprehension and under­standing policy implications of different political systems. The author of the book under review applied the comparative method to study the approaches of two liberal democratic states’ towards their own aborigine populations whom the author, following the definition of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (1986), calls “indigenous people”. The states in question are India and Canada. Colonial pasts, a multi­cultural social fabric, liberal democratic institutions, federalism, welfare capitalism and a parliamentary form of government are the features that categorise the two countries as similar. Both the states have large aborigine population and despite their liberal character, according to the author, these states failed to fully integrate these populations with the nation.

The Actors