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Why Rankings at All?

Benjamin Alarie
Monday, September 17, 2007

In two previous posts, I discussed the recent ranking of Canadian law schools in Maclean's magazine.  Before I make a post with my suggestions for improving the ranking methodology, however, I think it would be helpful to establish the spirit in which I will make these suggestions.  To set the stage, let me explain what I think are some of the legitimate roles of ranking systems.

Maclean's Law School Rankings: Observations on Methodology

Benjamin Alarie
Thursday, September 13, 2007

As mentioned in the previous post, the Maclean's ranking of Canadian law schools uses four elements to produce an overall ranking of Canadian law schools.  This ranking is based on:

  • Faculty quality (50%)
  • Student (more aptly graduate) quality (total of 50%)
    • elite firm hiring (25%)
    • national reach (15%)
    • Supreme Court Clerkship hiring (10%)

At this general level, it is difficult to quibble with the concept of assessing law schools on the basis of performance in faculty research and in teaching outputs.  Taking a closer look at how each of these four components is operationalized and measured, however, suggests a number of important limitations to the rankings.

1. "Faculty Quality [...] measures how often faculty members at each school are cited by other academics in 33 Canadian legal journals found in the Quicklaw journals database."

Maclean's Law School Rankings

Benjamin Alarie
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The September 24th edition of Maclean's magazine is going to have a feature story in which Canadian law schools are ranked according to a methodology that is "simple, transparent and relies entirely on public data."

Professor Brian Leiter, well known for his ranking of US law schools, was retained by Maclean's to assist in the design of the ranking.  The magazine's website has a brief discussion of the methodology, but the basic story is that 50% of the ranking is given to faculty research quality (as measured by citations of work in Canadian law reviews) and 50% of the ranking is based on student quality.  The student quality measure, in turn, is an amalgam of three measures: (i) "elite firm hiring"; (ii) "national reach" (15%); and (iii) "Supreme Court hiring" (10%).  The methodology seems reasonably sensible, albeit somewhat arbitrary (as any method of ranking law schools is apt to be). 

Il Sait Porter l’étoile de David? Religious Schooling and the Constitution

Ed Morgan
Saturday, August 25, 2007

Robert Fulford writes a complex piece in this morning’s newspaper ["Modernism isn't written in stone", National Post, Saturday, August 25, 2007, p. A23], with which I both agree and disagree. Fulford, in his usual concise way, does three things at once. First, he posits the separation of religion and government as essential to the development of modern democracies, citing the contest between Islamists and secular nationalists as central to determining the political course of Middle Eastern societies. Next, he states that although state-imposed religion is always pre-modern, contemporary democracies can and do differ on their particular approach to the subject and that not all adhere to the model of strict separation. Finally, he states that Ontario’s public support for a Roman Catholic separate school system is in the tradition of democracies giving a small nod to religious heritage without undermining their essential liberal structure.

Tea and Oranges that Come All the Way From China

Ariel Katz
Monday, August 13, 2007

Had Suzanne heard the news in recent months she'd probably think twice before serving Leonard Cohen tea and oranges that came all the way from China.  With reports about recalled toys, pet food poisoning and the FDA ban on certain imports of seafood from China, there is no exotic romance in such tea and oranges anymore.  No wonder American politicians and government officials step in to protect consumers against such safety dangers.  As Hillary Clinton said "I don't want to eat bad food from China or have my children having toys that are going to get them sick."  Nor do I. 

Michael Ignatieff, the Charter and the Quebec Nation Debate

Sujit Choudhry
Monday, August 13, 2007

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the  Charter, I offer some skeptical thoughts on the success of the Charter as an instrument of nation-building, in Bills of Rights as Instruments of Nation-Building in Multinational States: The Canadian Charter and Quebec Nationalism, posted on SSRN.  Here is the abstract (after the break):

Torture and the Case of Syria

Ed Morgan
Friday, August 10, 2007

This morning’s news brings Maher Arar back to the front pages, this time with revelations that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and not just the RCMP in collaboration with immigration and security authorities in the United States, had advance knowledge that he would be tortured. If true it is an important disclosure, and calls are rightly being made for an investigation of CSIS’ role in all of this. Indeed, this new angle on the Arar case harks back to accusations of CSIS involvement in the case of another Canadian, Muayyed Nurreddin, who claims that CSIS officials set him up to be abused abroad. Two other Canadians, Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati, have made similar accusations of collusion by Canadian government authorities in their arrests, interrogation, and torture. Each of these cases is slightly different and each points to different branches of security services on both sides of the Canada – U.S. border. Each one, of course, deserves independent investigation and a legal remedy for wrongs done to the individuals concerned.

Does the World Need More Canada?

Sujit Choudhry
Thursday, August 9, 2007

I've posted a new paper on SSRN, "Does the World Need More Canada?  The Politics of the Canadian Model in Constitutional Politics and Political Theory".  The paper is forthcoming in the International Journal of Constitutional Law in October.  Here is the abstract:

In the past two decades, numerous political theorists have taken up the question of how constitutional design should respond to the fact of minority nationalism. Just as important as that question is the way in which these theorists have responded to it. Some, rather than deriving constitutional strategies and models from abstract principles of political morality, have turned to real-life models to buttress their proposed solutions. It is precisely in this context that Canada has attained considerable prominence.

Adam Sandler and the Politics of Same Sex Marriage

Brenda Cossman
Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Adam Sandler’s new film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is causing quite a stir.   In the film, Chuck (Adam Sandler) and Larry (Kevin James) are New York fire fighters (it doesn’t get any more heroic) who enter into a sham gay marriage.  Although the film might not to be everyone's taste (typical Sandler slapstick comedy with lots of homophobic jokes thrown in for good measure), it may tell us alot about the politics of same sex marriage in America.

In the film, Chuck and Larry are both very, very straight, but Larry needs to get married to secure some employment benefits for his children.  They try a domestic partnership first, but it turns out to not be enough.  So, they come to Canada, get hitched, and go back home as a ‘married’ couple.The rest of the story plays out in the typical slap stick comedy form:  a specialist (Steve Buscemi) investigates the couple to see if they are “really” gay, Chuck falls for the lawyer (Jessica Biel) but can’t do anything about it because he is supposed to be gay, the guys at the firehouse shun the gay boys, blah, blah, blah.   Eventually, it all turns out well, with the guys at the firehouse seeing the error of their ways and support Chuck and Larry.  The real gay folks get married, and the real straight folks end up with straight folks, and everyone is supposed to feel good.

Remedies and Alternative Contracts

Benjamin Alarie
Wednesday, August 8, 2007

I've posted a new paper on SSRN entitled, Remedies and Alternative Contracts (it's co-authored with Jim Dinning, a recently graduated JD student).  The paper is forthcoming in the American Business Law Journal.  The abstract appears after the break:

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