Revisiting the ‘Membership Theory of Apologies’: Apology Politics in Australia and Canada

Abstract

Scepticism about apologies abounds, even as governments, elected officials and public figures continue to offer them. In the cases of Canada and Australia, the 2008 apologies mark an important reversal or change, respectively. In Canada, a Conservative government apologised for historical injustice, when it had initially maintained that it would not do so. In Australia, the Labor Party, upon assuming power, immediately apologised for the forced removal of Aboriginal peoples, something the defeated Liberal government of John Howard had long refused to do. In earlier work, I argued that government apologies can be politically efficacious because they can help alter the terms of political membership.1 Governments offer, and aggrieved groups demand, official expressions of regret in order to support and advance political claims. Governments will offer apologies, I argue, if they support group rights and seek to advance group aims. Given recent developments, it would seem that Canada’s apology contradicts my argument and Australia’s apology supports it.