Dennis Baker

Dennis Baker is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph. Professor Baker holds an LL.B. from the University of Toronto and a PhD from the University of Calgary.

His research focuses on the separation of powers, particularly the relationship between the courts and the representative branches. His book, Not Quite Supreme (2010), considers the limits of the Supreme Court of Canada’s power to settle political controversies and offers a spirited defense of a Parliament’s role in constitutional interpretation.

With Byron Sheldrick, he has authored Understanding Law for the Social Sciences (2025), a first of its kind textbook described by reviewers as an "essential resource" for "immersing social science students in the foundations of Canadian law."

Professor Baker has written on a number of constitutional controversies including the impact of federalism on criminal justice policy, the institutional politics behind the rules of evidence in sexual assault cases, (with Troy Riddell) and the implementation of judicial decisions by police.

Professor Baker is interested in a wide variety of issues related to law & politics, including Anglo-American constitutional theory, Canadian legal history, federalism and deliberative democracy.

• Baker, Dennis and Byron Sheldrick. Understanding Law for the Social Science (University of Toronto Press, 2025).

• Baker, Dennis. "The Courts, The Division of Powers, and Judicial Decision-Making" in Herman Bakis & Grace Skogstad (Eds.), Canadian Federalism, 5th Edition (University of Toronto Press, 2025).

• Baker, Dennis. “The Provincial Power to (Not) Prosecute Criminal Code Offences,” 48(2) Ottawa Law Review (2017) 419.
• Baker, Dennis. “Checking the Court: Justifying Parliament’s Role in Constitutional Interpretation,” (2016) 73 Supreme Court Law Review (2d) 1.
• Baker, Dennis. Not Quite Supreme: The Courts and Constitutional Interpretation (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010)