Politics

🇨🇦 Canada vs 🇺🇸 United States — Cue Cards

1. What type of democracy are Canada and the U.S.?

Both are representative democracies.

2. What is representative democracy?

Citizens elect representatives who make political decisions for them.

3. What is direct democracy?

→ Citizens directly vote on political decisions themselves.

4. What do Canada and the U.S. both have?

→ Federal systems — power is divided between the federal/central government and smaller governments (provinces/states).

5. What is Canada’s system of government?

→ Federal parliamentary democracy + constitutional monarchy.

6. What is the U.S. system?

→ Federal presidential republic.

7. Who is Canada's Head of State?

→ King Charles III, represented in Canada by the Governor General.

8. Who is Canada's Head of Government?

→ The Prime Minister.

9. Who is both Head of State and Head of Government in the U.S.?

→ The President.

10. What is a split executive?

→ The Head of State and Head of Government are different people.

11. What is fusion of powers?

→ The executive and legislative branches overlap. The Prime Minister and Cabinet come from Parliament.

12. What is separation of powers?

→ The executive, legislative, and judicial branches are separate.

13. Which system uses fusion of powers?

→ Canada / parliamentary system.

14. Which system uses separation of powers?

→ United States / presidential system.

15. Who do Canadians vote for?

→ MPs in their riding.

16. Do Canadians directly vote for the Prime Minister?

→ No. They vote for MPs. The party that can command the most support in the House of Commons forms the government and its leader becomes PM.

17. What is First-Past-the-Post (FPTP)?

→ In each riding, the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they get less than 50%.

18. What is proportional representation?

→ A party's percentage of seats should roughly match its percentage of the vote.

19. What is the main difference between FPTP and proportional representation?

→ FPTP: win individual ridings.→ PR: seats are allocated to more closely reflect overall votes.

20. What is a majority government?

A government with more than half the seats in the House of Commons.

21. What is a minority government?

→ A government with less than half the seats that needs support from other parties.

22. What is a vote of no confidence?

→ When the House of Commons no longer supports the government.

23. What can happen after a successful vote of no confidence?

→ The government may resign/fall, and a new government may be formed or an election may be called.

24. Can a Canadian PM be impeached?

→ No. A vote of no confidence is the closest equivalent.

25. What is impeachment in the U.S.?

→ A constitutional process where Congress brings charges against a government official for serious misconduct.

26. Can Congress remove a president through a vote of no confidence?

no

27. What are the three branches of government?

→ Legislative, Executive, Judicial.

28. Who is the U.S. legislative branch?

→ Congress — House of Representatives + Senate.

29. Who is the U.S. executive branch?

→ President + executive officials/cabinet.

30. What is judicial review?

→ The power of courts to determine whether laws or government actions are constitutional.

31. How is the U.S. president chosen?

→ Voters choose electors, and the Electoral College formally chooses the President.

32. How many Electoral College votes are needed to win the presidency?

270

33. How long is a U.S. presidential term?

→ 4 years, with a maximum of 2 terms.

34. How long can a Canadian government last before an election must occur?

→ An election must occur at least every 5 years, although elections can happen earlier.

35. Who appoints Canadian Senators?

→ The Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister.

36. What is federalism?

→ Power is divided between the central/federal government and smaller governments such as provinces or states.

37. What is centralization?

→ Power becomes more concentrated in the federal government

38. What is decentralization?

→ More power is given to provincial/state governments.