Canadian Politics Test 1

Political Party

an organization designed to get candidates elected

House of Commons Numbers

338, soon to be 343

Senate

105 appointed until they’re 75

Governor General

Crown’s Federal representative, formal head of the executive branch, appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister

Confidence

ability to command the majority support in Parliament - required for stable government

constitutional democracy

governed by sets of laws protected by rule of law legislative requirements

what is the first rule of responsible government

confidence

What is the hierarchy of our set of rules?

Constitution, statutory laws, unwritten conventions

institutional approach

polisci approach analyze the rules of the game and their effects on the political system (through the environment and institutions)

What is the ultimate goal of the rules of the game

to manage conflict civilly, not eliminate conflict

Who is Group 1 of the game?

voters, political leaders, political parties

Who is Group 2 of the game?

bureaucracy, courts, other governments in the country

Group 3

media, advocacy groups, religious organizations, unions, etc

When was the Constitution created?

BNA Act 1867, Constitution Act of 1982 (charter and Aboriginal Rights)

What does the Constitution outline?

responsible government, federalism

responsible government

responsible to the people (Parliament), and trusted by the crown to rule fairly or report back

federalism

2 tiered form of government especially helpful in a nation with a wide spread

Bicameral Legislature

two chambers, the house and the senate

What is the Canadian form of government modelled on?

The British Parliamentary system, aka the Westminster Model

ideology

specific bundles of ideas about politics and “the good life”, also the patterns of how someone would explain political phonomenonP

Political Culture

sum total of political beliefs in a country (example Nazi Germany)

What is the typical outline of the political spectrum

Communism, Socialism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Fascism

Liberalism

(traditionally) stands for individual liberty and the equality of all, using reason and logic and believing competition is good for the economy

reform liberlism

supports having more government control and the welfare state

laissez-faire liberalism

wants to leave the state alone and support a free market

what is the largest difference in the beliefs of liberalists and conservatists

society is created on one hand, and naturally occurring on the other, and these beliefs impact how they think society should be interacted with as a whole

Conservatism

(Tory) stands for community and conservation of what is known, believing in the social hierarchy, noblesse oblige thought process

noblesse oblige

favouring cooperation, and suggests the more fortunate should be willing to give to the less fortunate in the name of society’s wellbeing

democratic socialism

a blend of L and C that leans towars ‘better’ support for economics (neo-liberals) through taxing, welfare and public healthcare

Neo Conservatism

blend of L and C that focuses on individualism and autonomy of the individual interms of privatized healthcare, little taxing, and preserving traditions

cleavages

enduring political divisions like language, religion, urban v rural, group identity

identity politics

political orientation driven by group identity (like their stance on cleavages, the Bloc)

Quebec’s nationalism

passion displayed for one nation

soverigntists

belief in having a separate state

federalists

wanting a strong national government coordinating a bunch of smaller ones

populism

belief that major decisions should be made by the people, and that the representatives should answer directly to the people (West)

Political Gender Gap

certain parties having more support from women than men and vice versa

common myth on political gender gaps

that there are more women supporting the NDP, when in reality, more men support Conservatively simply to not support the NDP

western alienation

deep sense of disconnection between the western provinces and the rest of canada, observed in their political behavour/demands like wexit

party system

set active in the political system at any one time, sometimes used to refer to just the dominant ones

fringe parties

garner a small percentage of the overall vote, but enhance the democratic system by focusing on issues the major parties won’t mention

what party system did we have at confederation

two party system (liberals and Liberal-Conservatives)

founders of the Torys and their bill

Sir John A ($10) and Sir Robert Borden ($100)

Founders of the liberals and their bill

Sir Wilfred Laurier ($5) and William Lyon Mackenzie King ($50)

Tory Syndrome

tendency in the Conservative Party to engage in internal conflicts over leadership, specifically after a failed election

when did the two party system begin to fall?

1921 - prairie populism

progressive party

populist farmers in the west resistant to overarching leadership by one party, wanted to run ‘together’ and then rule individually once elected

why was the progressive party’s plan flawed?

the goal of eventually giving each district autonomy to act within their own ideologies and policies would take away from the party’s unity, confidence and ultimately be the detriment of their ruling

social credit party

a populist party seeking to give purchasing power back to the citizens and essentially print money out to hand to people

co-operative commonwealth federation

(later the NDP in 1961) democratic socialists from the SCP that believed the State should own means of production

Why was Mulroney so successful at first

he made a coalition with the quebec nationalists, ontario Tories, and western neo-conservatives

what backfired on Mulroney

eventually, the requirement of quebec to get along with the west became self-destructive, and they became the Bloc and the Reform Party

How did the Reform party rebrand

Reform → Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance → +PCs = CPC

air war

national campaign for the leader, driven by tech and getting the leader where it matters most

political brand

marketing strategy designed to project a distinct image of a party and (more importantly) their leader to hopefully create an emotional connection with voters (harper’s vest)

ground war

338 individual elections

brokerage parties

appeal to different regions by staying pragmatic and in the middle

what is the goal of a brokerage party

to forge a political coalition across major cleavagges

missionary parties

strongly committed to their political principles, not willing to compromise, often dividing regions (bloc)

single issue party

often more about advocating, parties with a platform supporting one particular issue (marijuana party, animal rights party)

median voter theorem

bell curve applied to political ideologies

wedge politics

political party chooses to take one side of a particular ‘hot button’ issue to attract more votes and divide the remaining voters among parties

dog whistling

political message that sounds innocent to the general population but resonates with a target group of voters, typically by appealing to longstanding prejudices

two party plus plus system

two major parties (L and C) alongside two minor parties

two party plus

two major parties and one minor

which party has a continuous history back to confederation

liberal party

caucus

all the members of a political party elected to parliament (in the case of CPC, this includes those appointed to senate, liberals haven’t since 2014)

What is Canada’s average populations

40,5 million

the difference between first language and mother tongue learned at home, first language is the result of the local socialization

mother tongue is the in-born language

what are the largest and smallest provinces

Ontario: 15.5 million, PEI: 176 thousand

political culture

the political system as internalized in the cognitions, feelings, and evaluations of its populations

culture

psychological orientation toward social objects

what effects culture?

history, rules, technology, media

how important is culture

formative, determines values, provides a reference and a context

what does Parliament consist of

house of commons, the senate, and the crown

rules of thumb

non-binding, informal, unwritten rules, that emerge as conventions and have the potential to become law overtime

intergovernmental relations

interactions of a federation (F&P, P&M, etc)

Indian Act

federal legislation that defines the legal status of ‘indian’ peoples in canada and regulates the management of their land and reserves (was on the BNA Act, but was not their human rights)

electoral systems

he rules by which voter preferences are translated to seats

SMP

Single member plurality: geographic representation through districts, may not always be proportionate, aka first past the post

safe seats

ridings that political parties can generally count on winning the election, may have les resources allocated as such

swing ridings

long history of changing elected candidates

bellwether ridings

unique habit of electing a candidate to parliament who belongs to the winning party

representative sample

subset of the population that accurately reflects the entire population

popular vote

total votes for each party across the country

duverger’s law

in SMP, two strong parties will likely dominate

wasted vote

does not contribute to the candidate getting elected, like if it’s a wasted conservative vote in Liberal’s safe seat riding

strategic voting

person votes their second or third preference in order to keep a party from winning

proportional representation

ensures the distribution of seats in the legislature is proportional to a party’s share of the vote in an election

list system

simplest and purest PR, as a party gains votes, they’re allocated more seats, which they can fill with pre-determined candidates from a list

mixed member proportional

hybrid PR and SMP, votes for the candidate to represent the constituency and for the party to then use the list system with

Single transferable vote

Used in Ireland and Malta, divides into geographic constituencies that rank their candidates based on preference, and the candidates are ‘elected’ by a complex electoral quotient

What are the weaknesses of SMP

smaller majority votes, many wasted votes, reinforces regionalism, disadvantage to female candidates, discourages participation

what are the benefits of SMP

simple to use, generally stable, connection to the riding

what are the benefits of PR

no wasted votes, voter preferences translate more proportionately, better opportunity for smaller parties

what are the weaknesses of PR

simple versions are unstable, any stable system is quite complex, there is also less chance of having majority seats, meaning more coalitions, extremists risks

if canada switched from SMP to PR

there would be more parties, and more multi-party coalition governments instead of one-party majorities.