Hundreds of academics in political science, history, law, and philosophy have condemned Prime Minister Stephen Harper for proroguing Parliament.

On a bilingual website called Against the Prorogation of Parliament, over 200 academics have signed a short article setting out reasons why Harper "is undermining our system of government":

Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.

Think of the idea of a “loyal opposition” so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.

We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country’s common good. If it isn’t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.

What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do.

Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament and the Canadian people.

... Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament and the Canadian people.

The Prime Minister’s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government – the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions.

Andrew Potter, blogging at Macleans.ca, discusses the manifesto and notes that it will appear on Tuesday in the Ottawa Citizen and La Presse.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.