Government Unit - Ideologies and Chapter 9 - 12

political ideology

a way of thinking about how to govern a society

What are the 5 major political ideologies?

communism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism, facisim

Intellectual freedom

individual's right in to believe/think without limits (freedom of thought)

Intellectual equality

Everyon'es right in society to exercise/hold views and be protected from unacceptable expressions

Economic freedom

Individual's right to own property, run a business, invest money, or advertise a product

Economic equality

the right of every member of society to have adequate food, clothing, and shelter

Direct democracy

everyone votes (Athens Greece was the first to do it)

Representative democracy

one elected person represents a group of voters

Left wing

progressive, optimistic, change to progress, new ideas, humans are good

Right wing

Past was better, change to restore past values, strong father figure.

Communism

a political ideology derived from Karl Marx, economic and intellectual equality are prioritized, evolves to no government in theory

Socialism

left wing, values intellectual freedom, economic equality, government can make the people free (ex. universal healthcare/medicare), does not support economic freedom

Liberalism

left wing, committed to intellectual freedom, and progress

Conservatism

right wing, gradual change is ok, valued economic freedom and intellectual equality.

Capitalism

An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Prioritizes economic freedom

Fascism

individual freedom limited to conforming the nation, limited economic freedom, did not support economic or intellectual equality (ex. Nazi Germany)

Totalitarianism

one person or a small group has all the power (ex. oligarchy, dictatorship)

Public ownership

ownership by the government of an asset, corporation, or industry, and paid by taxes (ex. Public library)

Private ownership

Privately owned and run, not funded by the government (ex. Chapters Bookstore)

franchise

business (ex. a cupcake franchise)

What is our current federal leader

Mark Carney

What is our current provincial leader

David Eby

What is our current municipal leader

Ken Sim

Government

a person/group of people that help organize a society to live more safely

Written constitution

supreme law/ultimate authority of the country

Unwritten constitution

the implied and unstated assumptions of the Constitution

amending formula

process to change the constitution (needs over 50% of Canadians and 7/10 provinces minimum to agree)

Constitutional monarchy

system of government in which a King/Queen rules with the constitution

Act

Another word for law

BNA Act

law made in 1867 that made Canada a country

Political Spectrum

A system used to characterize and classify different political positions/ideologies in relation to one another

Royal assent/Formal assent

the governor general's approval/passing of a law/document (their signature to make a bill a law)

The Crown/Head of State

the king or the queen (King Charles 3rd), or Governor General if the monarch is not here

What is meant by a federal system or federal state?

3 levels of government responsible for lawmaking: federal, provincial, municipal

Division of power

multiple levels of authority/power: federal, provincial, municipal

Parliamentary democracy

a group of people that vote to make laws

Federal responsibilities

national defense, foreign policy, Aboriginal affairs, post office, criminal law

Shared Federal and Provincial responsibilities

agriculture, immigration, health policy, natural resources, marriages

Provincial responsibilities

education, health services, highways, provincial law

Municipal responsibilities

garbage collection, sewage, school

Legislative

having the power to make laws

Executive

carries out the laws

Judicial

decides who has broken the laws and what the consequences will be

Legislative Branch (3 parts)

The law-making branch that is made up of the House of Commons, Senate, and Governor General.

Parliament

Canada's legislature, the federal institution with the power to make laws, to raise taxes, and to authorize government spending

Legislative assembly

Group of people who meet to make laws

Governor general

Representative of the Monarch (currently Mary Simon)

MPs

member of parliament, elected and represents 100,000 people/citizens in their riding (Ontario and Quebec have the most MPs as their populations are larger)

Riding/Constituency

area that is represented by MPs, groups of 100 000 people

Session

meeting

Independents

MP that is not associated with a government party

Speaker of the house

MP in charge of keeping order in HOC

H.O.C. (what does it stand for?)

House of Commons

Backbenchers

A MP who is not a party leader or cabinet minister

Shadow cabinet

opposition's cabinet

House of Commons (HOC lower house),

where elected representatives (MPs) make laws

majority government

over 50% of the MPs are from the winning political party

minority government

less than 50% of the MPs are from the winning political party, must work with one or more other parties to pass bills

Opposition

the members that do not belong to the governing party

Official opposition

the party with the second largest number of MP's (currently Conservatives in Canada)

Caucus

private meeting

Party whip

peer pressure to get everyone in a party to vote the same way

Free vote

vote differently than one's party

party discipline

punishment for voting against one's party

Senate (upper house)

Independent of the H.O.C. The members are appointed by the governor general upon recommendation of the Prime Minister. Roles to provide a sober second look (patronage position) at legislation passed by the H.O.C

veto

to stop a bill from passing (ex. saying "no")

Triple E

to make the senate system effective, elective, and equal

Patronage

getting a position due to privilege (not election)

Prime Minister

leader of government and the party in power

Cabinet

The collection of ministers (each responsible for a department), approves bills (1st step in law-making process)

shadow cabinet

the opposition's cabinet

cabinet secrecy

a private meeting amongst cabinet members

backbencher

a MP not in the cabinet or shadow cabinet

Portfolio/ministers

a specialist in government (ex. Minister of defence, minister of education). Each minister heads a department.

Solidarity

presenting a unified front (looking like they all support each other)

Public service/civil service/bureaucracy

Non-elected government workers (ex. those with a government job like teacher, police officer)

Premier

leader of province

Lieutenant governor

representative of the monarch at the provincial level

Legislation

the making and enacting of laws

Order in council

cabinet making a "quick law" without using the longer law-making process

Leadership titles (Federal, Provincial, Municipal)

Prime Minister, Premier, Mayor

Aboriginal Government

Self-Government (Chief with Band Council made up of elders)

Federal

All of Canada (ex. a Federal law applied to everyone in the country)

Riding X is smaller in area than riding Y. Why?

Riding X has people living closer to each other.

Another word for municipality

city

How a bill becomes a law

cabinet member approves a bill, H.O.C. (3 readings), Senate (3 readings), Governor General gives formal/royal assent

bill

a draft of a law

what happens at the 3 readings in the HOC and senate

1st = bill introduced, 2nd = debated, 3rd = voted

How often do federal and provincial elections occur?

max 5 years

How often do municipal elections occur?

max 2-4 years

What are the 6 steps in the election process in order?

dissolution, enumeration, nomination, campaigning, balloting, tabulation

dissolution

Governor general asking MPs to leave the House of Commons in preparation of a new election

enumeration

preparing the voter's list

nomination

selecting the candidates to run in an election

Campaigning

promoting the nominated candidate from election start to the weekend before election day

Balloting

putting a checkmark next to the candidate you want to vote for. occurs 8 AM to 8 PM & workers allowed time to vote

Tabulation

ballots are counted by the deputy returning officer; recounts may occur when the margin of victory is 100 votes or less

By-election

singular election in a riding if a H.O.C. seat vacated (ex. an MP leaves because they are too sick to fulfill their duties)

Rep by pop (or Representation by Population)

1 person represents 100,000 people

Redistribution

redraw the boundary prior to election