The courts and same-sex marriage: A test of dialogue theory

Dialogue theory emerged prominently, and not without controversy, in Canadian academic literature in the 1990s with a view to explaining the paradoxical relationship between Charter-based judicial review and liberal democratic theory. This thesis uses the ongoing litigation over same-sex relationships as a vehicle to assess the debate about dialogue theory. The thesis focuses on the part of the debate concerning the fate of policy compromises. Are reasonable compromises---in this case, registered domestic partnerships or civil unions---aided or undermined by Charter-based judicial intervention in the policy process?...