POSC 1000 Unit 5

3 government branches

executive, legislature, judiciary

Legislature

body created to approve measures that will form the law of the land. most important political institution for democratic representation

Legislators

individuals elected to hold office in the legislature

• also called representatives, members of congress, parliamentarians, or deputies

• believed to be a representative of majority citizenship, but often are rich, white men

• minority groups are underrepresented

Constituency service

• legislators establish trust and a relationship with constituents

• allocating state resources to constituents

• providing link between district and government

Unicameral legislatures

legislatures that have 1 chamber only. NL House of Assembly

Bicameral legislatures

legislatures that have 2 separate chambers or houses

• Canadian legislature

  • The House of Commons (lower house)

  • The Senate (upper house)

• U.S. legislature

  • House of Representatives (lower house)

  • The Senate (upper house)

Legislative government branch

political institution that has the primary responsibility to enact laws; centrally involved in law-making

• Make laws

• Represent the people

• Debate public issues

Legislative agenda

speaker decides what bills will be heard on the chamber floor, when they’ll be discussed, and if they’ll come before the chamber for a vote. speaker influences legislation fate since they decide the agenda

Committee chair

• sets the committee agenda and decides what legislation the committee will hear

• determines order in which amendments to legislation are taken up during committee hearings

vice committee chair

presides over the committee in the absence of the chair

Committee Secretary

responsible for keeping minutes

Gatekeeping authority

authority to block legislation from advancing to the chamber floor

Negative agenda control

committees can prevent bills from ever being heard on the chamber floor

Westminster parliamentary systems

parliaments modeled after the UK

• speaker is non-partisan (no party)

• speaker doesn’t participate in debates or cast votes

• speaker has administrative role

Responsible governmen

government can only stay in power as long as it has the support/confidence of the legislature majority

Vote of no-confidence

vote where the legislature explicitly states that it doesn’t have confidence in the government. 3 ways:

• Legislator introduces a motion explicitly stating a lack of confidence in government

• Government introduces a motion explicitly stating it’s a matter of confidence

• Vote on an important measure that’s central to the government’s plan

Majority government

When 1 party holds all the seats in cabinet, and holds the majority of the seats in the legislature

Minority government

When 1 party holds all of the seats in cabinet but has less than 50% of the members of the legislature

• Government works with other parties to convince them to vote in favour of the government for issues of confidence

• Often enter into agreements with other parties

Coalition government

• 2+ parties hold seats in cabinet AND together form a majority of the legislature

• Prime Minister comes from coalition partner A

• Finance minister comes from coalition partner B

• Partners form the executive

Importance of Separation of Powers

prevents any concentration of power in the hands of one individual, group, or branch of government

2nd Tier of Representation

• Legislature can represent special interests differently with 2 house opposed to 1

• In Canada, MPs from each region in the House of Commons is based on population

Bicameral congruence

• constituencies each chamber represents and how they’re elected; political structure of each chamber

• it’s congruent if legislators in both chambers represent the same constituencies

  • lower chamber is elected by direct elections

  • upper chamber is established by appointments by current government or indirect/direct elections

malapportionment

voters in some areas count more than others

• lower chamber is well represented by equal share of citizens

• upper chamber is misrepresented since some aspects of society are overrepresented

Bicameral symmetry

• allocation of power between the 2 chambers

• when symmentrical, both chambers hold the same/similar power

• assymmentry is more common

Representation

• when people vote for somebody because of some socio-economic characteristic, like gender or race

• other people vote for candidates because of their stances on key issues, like the economy, education, and healthcare

• either way, people want their choices being heard

Representation by population

regions with more people should have more representatives

Partisan interest

people vote for candidates because of their parties

Delegate model

people expect legislators to figure out the will of the people they represent, then act on that basis (acting on behalf of those people)

Trustee model

people expect legislators to understand the opinions of those they represent, but they should use their own judgment about what position to take on an issue

Substantive Representation

• extent to which voters’ policy preferences and interests are promoted by their representatives

• passing legislation or making tangible differences in politics and society

• representatives advocating for specific issues and introducing legislation and issues into the legislature, even when they don’t succeed in passing bills into law

Policymaking Process

• A bill is introduced to chamber floor

• May advance to 1+ committees for consideration

• Back to chamber floor for approval

• Bill is advanced to next chamber where it goes through the same steps (bicameral)

• In presidential systems: legislator(s) introduce bill and they work with their party togather support

• In parliamentary systems: bills are presented by the prime minister and cabinet ministers

Programmatic policies

• policies designed to affect large segments of society and a plurality of interests

• more likely used by representatives to align policies with their party’s goals

Targeted policies

public or private goods designed to target a specific constituency or group in society

Clientelist policies

representatives promote policies that target a specific group in society in exchange for that group’s support during elections

Social cleavages

divisions in which society is organized based on 1+ social identity groups. examples: colour, sex, sexuality, language, location