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There exists in both academic and political circles a growing interest in public deliberation as an alternative to the sometimes adversarial and polarizing public engagement activities that result in the pitting of experts against lay people. Proponents of public deliberation claim that a more deliberative process can engage a diversity of participants in a more guided process that better balances expert knowledge and citizen inclusion.

"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail Some view the systematic killing, rape and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against humanity -- genocide. Who is right? What is genocide? What is the impact on humanity of wiping out entire groups of people?

"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail Think Africa, and many people think of brutal war, endless famine, pervasive corruption, unworthy rulers, universal poverty, an AIDS epidemic out of control. As this book in the Groundwork Guides series shows, these characteristics are both true and a caricature at the same time.

"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail In this eye-opening work, political scientist and award-winning author James Laxer warns readers that our common assumptions about democracy -- that it is a natural progression of advanced societies and that it is on the rise worldwide -- are misguided. Democracy, in fact, is very fragile.

With the loosening of restrictions on the Chinese economy in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of the middle class, many observers thought that Western-style democracy would soon follow. Instead, China has adopted its own version, with a market-driven economy where actions that might call into question the decisions of the governing party are strictly forbidden.

Shortlisted, East Coast Literary Award and Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-FictionIt was over in seconds. In the early hours of January 12, 2008, seven members of a high school basketball team and their coach’s wife died instantly when their school van collided with a tractor trailer. Travelling in dirty weather, minutes from their Bathurst, New Brunswick, homes, the impact forever shattered the lives of eight families and their community. In the weeks that followed the horrific crash, two women who lost their sons in the accident forged a bond.

In the late 1920s, Canada's economy was showing all the signs of a full-fledged depression. Life savings were evaporating, unemployment was up, and exports were dramatically down. Riding on the popularity of his promise to "blast" Canada's way into world markets — and thus stop the economy's downward spiral — Richard Bedford Bennett defeated William Lyon Mackenzie King at the polls on July 28, 1930, and assumed the leadership of the country.

Winner, Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction, and W.O. Mitchell Book PrizeShortlisted, Dolman Travel Book AwardLonglisted, Alberta Readers’ Choice Award, BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, and Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-FictionIn this ambitious blend of travel and reportage, Marcello Di Cintio travels to the world’s most disputed edges to meet the people who live alongside the razor wire and answer the question: What does it mean to live against the walls?

Shortlisted Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical WritingOnce, a single francophone settlement shared both sides of the Saint John River, until a political trade-off between countries split it down the middle. From that inauspicious start, the Maine-New Brunswick border, the first boundary to be drawn between the two nations, has served as a microcosm for Canada-U.S. relations. For centuries, friends, lovers, schemers and smugglers have reached across the line.

Shortlisted for the Donner Prize and the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction AwardDroughts, floods, and contamination of fresh water in the american Southwest, in the Great Lakes region, in Australia, in northern china, in the Middle East, and in India have broguht the critical issue of water supply to the forefront of public consciousness. In dozens of countries, ordinary citizens have cause to worry about what (or how much) will come out of their taps — if they even have taps — and who will make sure it is available, affordable, and safe.