Significant disagreement exists among scholars and practitioners as to the political, legal and social implications of constitutional rights. New constitutional recognitions of collective rights in the form of Aboriginal rights challenge historical notions of a political community based on nationalism and introduce the idea of multinationalism within a single constitutional state. Proponents reason that these constitutional recognitions will increase protections of the Aboriginal claims to land and other resources, while others doubt that the political incentives for the enforcement of such rights exist and that constitutionalization will make any difference at all. This project evaluates the claim that constitutions matter. Specifically, it explores two major impacts of the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal rights in Canada. First, the project examines the assertion that the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal rights increases the legal recognition and protection of Aboriginal rights, by exploring the effect these constitutional recognitions have on interactions between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian government. Through a comparative historical analysis of litigation and legislation before and after constitutional incorporation, it will evaluate the use of constitutional arguments to reassert Aboriginal rights not previously recognized to determine the extent to which the text of the Constitution matters. Second, the project investigates the assertion that the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal rights increases inclusiveness within the national political community. It explores the larger social impacts of the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal rights by comparing the attitudes of Canadians towards the treatment of Aboriginal peoples and recognitions of Aboriginal rights by surveying a sample of newspaper articles, cartoons, and editorials dealing with Aboriginal issues from 1965 to 2003 and comparing attitudes expressed in individual opinion data collected by the Canadian Election Studies in 1974, 1979, 1993, and 1997.
