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works have explored the ways in which institutions and policy legacies have shaped the
public demands of organized groups. For example, Weir and Skocpol’s comparison of the
evolution of economic policies in response to the Great Depression traces the influence of
pre-existing policies on the development of policy options that were put forward by
organized interests such as unions and employers in political debate (Weir and Skocpol,
1985). Similarly, Hattam’s (1993) study of the emergence of business unionism in the United
States shows how the collective identity and political strategies of American workers were
channeled into bread and butter unionism, in part as a consequence of the structure of
American political institutions in the 19
th
century, and, particularly, the power of courts to
block progressive labour laws.
In the case discussed below, the institutional and policy change signified by the
Charter did not create new policy demands. Lesbians and gay men had demanded legal rights
prior to the Charter’s entrenchment. However, the Charter created new opportunities to
push rights demands beyond what had been thought possible under ordinary human rights
legislation. Hence, the Charter shaped the politics of the movement by encouraging
organization and litigation around these new possibilities. The attraction of civil rights
displaced the consideration of a broader agenda of sexual liberation or other forms of
inequality within the lesbian and gay community, at least at the pan-Canadian level.
A third type of effect occurs when political institutions shape the particular forms of
organization that are taken up by groups. Skocpol, Ganz and Munson’s (2000) recent large-
scale empirical exploration of the formation of associations in the U.S., demonstrates the
impact of federalism in shaping patterns of association. These conclusions are validated in
Canadian studies of federalism and group organization. A substantial literature in Canadian
politics points to the impact of federal political institutions on shaping associational life
Convention