The Parliamentary Regime: The Political Philosophy of Confederation

Flashcards covering the vocabulary, key figures, and political theories analyzed in Ryan Alexander McKinnell's study of the political philosophy of Canadian Confederation.

Parliamentarianism

A strand of liberal constitutional thought that advocates a political framework centered on a powerful elected assembly, responsible ministers serving in Parliament, an upper house, a constitutional monarch, and robust legislative deliberation.

"Tory Touch" Thesis

An interpretation of Canadian political culture formulated by Gad Horowitz, proposing that Canadian liberal individualism is diluted by a premodern organic conservatism that values collectivism, order, and the common good.

Organic Constitutionalism

A tradition of constitutional thought described by Peter H. Russell as antithetical to Lockean democratic social contract theory, emphasizing historical evolution and exemplifying the political ideas of Edmund Burke.

Montesquieu's System of Checks and Balances

An account of the British Constitution presenting it as three separate powers—the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the Crown—checking each other with their respective prerogatives to maintain constitutional equilibrium.

Responsible Government

A parliamentary mechanism requiring ministers of the Crown to sit in and maintain the confidence of the elected House of Commons, enabling legislative oversight of executive powers while harmonizing executive and legislative action.

Burkean Model of Representation

A concept derived from Edmund Burke's Bristol Address asserting that a elected representative owes constituents their mature judgment and enlightened conscience rather than serving as a mere delegate bound by instructions.

Alpheus Todd

The first librarian of the Dominion Parliament and 19th-century Canada's principal constitutional theorist who highlighted the concentration of power in the House of Commons after 1688 and defended parliamentary government.

Monarchical Principle

A constitutional design element wherein executive power is formally administered by a hereditary monarch or governor general who acts as a non-partisan symbol of state unity to restrain political ambitions and prevent usurpation.

Canadian Senate (1867 Framework)

An appointed, independent upper legislative body created by the Fathers of Confederation to represent regional and property interests, acting as a regulating body to prevent hasty or ill-considered legislation from the House of Commons.

Usurpation

The political danger identified by Enlightenment and liberal theorists in which elected representatives or executive figures appropriate popular sovereignty for themselves under the guise of representing the people.