Canada in a comparative perspective

Parliamentary for of liberal democracy

In the parliamentary form of liberal democracy, the executive branch is composed of 1) the elected and partisan Prime Minister & cabinet; and 2) the nonpartisan, professional bureaucracy (also known as the public service, or civil service).

ELections

Elections are fought by partisan political parties. The elected government is partisan. But, in a healthy liberal democracy, the elected government represents all citizens, not just the ones who voted for the winning partisan party. Government programs paid for by taxpayers are administered by the nonpartisan bureaucracy, free of partisan political interference.

Liberal Democracy (small ‘l’)

Canada belongs to the family of countries known asliberal democracies (Mintz reading, p. 184).
Note this phrase combines two different concepts: ‘liberal,’ and ‘democracy.’ Note the small “l”, not a big “L”.

In political science, we draw a distinction between small “l” liberal, and big “L” Liberal.

Small “l” liberal refers to the regime of liberal democracy. Small “l” liberal may also refer to liberal ideology, or liberal cultural or philosophical values. It depends on the
context.

Liberal Democracy (Big ‘L’)

In contrast, big “L” liberal means the Liberal Party.

Current PM Justin Trudeau
is the son of former PM
Pierre Trudeau (1968-79,
1980-84). Pierre Trudeau
is the most important
Canadian PM since World
War Two.
Justin was born on
Christmas Day, 1971. He grew up with a PM as his father.
Do NOT write on the test or exam that only members of the Liberal Party of Canada believe in liberal democracy, or liberal values.

Conservative Party

Similarly, small “c” conservative means conservative ideology, or conservative cultural or philosophical values. Big “C” Conservative means the Conservative Party.

Liberal small ‘l’ democracies

Liberal (small “l”) democracies combine representative or indirect democracy with the ideology of liberalism (Mintz reading, p. 184).

Canada is a liberal democratic country. This is accepted by all of the main parties that compete in federal and provincial elections: the Liberal Party, the Conservative
Party, the NDP, the Green Party, and the Bloc Québécois, among others.

Next, note the linking of the two words ‘liberal’ and ‘democracy,’ and the order in which they appear. Liberal (small “l”) democracies are representative democracies. This is an indirect form of democracy (Mintz reading, p. 183).

liberal (small “l”) indirect democracy is not the only form of democracy.

Representative Democracy

Next, note the linking of the two words ‘liberal’ and ‘democracy,’ and the order in which they appear. Liberal (small “l”) democracies are representative democracies. This is an indirect form of democracy (Mintz reading, p. 183).

Direct or Plebiscitary democracy

In a direct or plebiscitary democracy, the people directly decide what the
government will do (Mintz reading, pp. 189-190). This is done through referendums, sometimes also known as plebiscites.

Referendum

A referendum is a vote by all the voters on a question that can be answered with a “yes/no.” If the people vote “yes” the government must implement the policy agreed on.

Many liberal or representative democracies do hold referendums from time to time...including here in Canada.

Representative and indirect democracy

we elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House, and they debate the
issues and vote on government policies,

Canda’s version of liberal democracy

But in Canada’s version of liberal, representative & indirect democracy, direct consultations with the people through referendums are rare. Canada has had only three national referendums in its entire history: in 1898, 1942, and in 1992.

In June 2016, Britain held a referendum on whether it should leave or stay in the
EU (‘Brexit’).

Britain first joined the EU after a positive vote by the British people in an earlier referendum in 1975.

Provincial Level Referendums examples

In Canada, it is more common for provincial governments to hold referendums than the federal government. The two most important examples In 1980 and 1995, the separatist Parti Quebecois government in Quebec held provincial referendums on
whether Quebec should separate from Canada. Quebec’s voters got to decide. Yes or no?

The basic Features of Small ‘l’iberal democracies

One: Government officials get into public office through free and fair elections.

Two: Political parties are free to organize, present
candidates for public office, and compete in elections,
free of harassment or intimidation.

Three: The elected government develops policies according to specified procedures and agreed-upon rules.

Four: Every small “l” liberal democracy has an independent judiciary, which can hear lawsuits brought by citizens who argue that the government has violated their
political rights and civil liberties.

Five: The elected government exercises supreme power within the national territory.

Six: here’s a general consensus that conflict (political, economic, social) should be resolved peacefully, according to legally prescribed procedures, without recourse to violence.

seven: Eight. Small “l”iberal democracies such as Canada are based on the distinction between the public and private spheres. The private sphere is often referred to nowadays as civil society (Mintz reading, p. 184).

Fundamental Features of small ‘l’ liberal democracieshe elected government

he elected government develops policies according to specified procedures and known, agreed- upon rules. These rules ensure that all new laws are passed pursuant to due process. New laws cannot be imposed on the population without
warning, advance notice, or in secret.

In a liberal democracy, all new proposed laws are released to the public, and are debated in the elected legislature and critiqued in the media. Only after that, can they be passed into law and go into effect. See the class reading “The Legislative Process” for how this works in Canada.

Accountability

This ensures transparency in governance. This promotes the accountability of the executive. (See Mintz reading, pp. 186-188).

Vertical Accountability

Vertical accountability means the government is accountable to the people, the ultimate source of authority. This is exercised through regular elections.
The politicians controlling the executive branch, must get elected and then re-elected. They have to persuade the people/voters they deserve to be re-elected. To do that, they have to justify their performance in office.

Horizontal Accountability

Horizontal accountability means the elected government (known as the executive) is restrained by other government institutions within the state system:
• All actions by the federal executive branch must be sourced and authorized by a law passed by Parliament.
• If citizens believe the government is acting unlawfully, they can challenge government actions in the courts; judges have the authority to strike down as invalid, government laws and regulations which are determined to be unlawful.

• In the parliamentary system, the cabinet is accountable to the
elected legislature:
o in Canada, this is the House of Commons, which is the lower house or chamber of Parliament.
• Government legislation passed by the elected House of Commons can still be scrutinized and reviewed by the Senate, which is Parliament’s upper house.
• Parliamentary officers such as the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer report to Parliament about the government’s performance.

Branches of Parliament

The PM & cabinet control the executive branch. They are accountable to both chambers of the legislative branch; and, to the judicial branch. The executive, legislative & judicial branches are all part of the Canadian state.

examples of issues where governments should interfere

The extent to which the government should interfere with this sphere is one of the most hotly contested issues in western democracies. Philosophers have been arguing about this for centuries.
Some examples:
• Should cannabis be legal?
• Should assisted-suicide be legal?
• Should motorcyclists be forced to wear helmets?
• Should children/teen-agers be allowed to change their pronouns at school, without their parents’ knowledge or consent?
• Should automobile drivers be denied the right to use their cellphones while driving? Compelled to wear seatbelts?
• Should same-sex couples be allowed to get married or adopt
children?
• Should prostitution be legal?
• Should smoking be banned in public places?

highlights of the liberty democracy lectures.

n political science there is a difference between small and big letters. Small “l”
means liberal ideology and big “L” means the Liberal Party. Small “c” means
conservative ideology and big “C” means Conservative Party.
Canada belongs to the family of countries known as liberal democracy. This form
of government combines the ideology of liberalism with representative democracy.
Representative democracy is indirect democracy. The voters elect the decision-
makers, but do not themselves rule directly. Representative democracy is not the
only form of democracy. It can be contrasted with direct democracy, where the
people rule directly.
There is no pure direct democracy in the world, but in liberal democracies,
governments will occasionally ask the people themselves to directly decide an
issue. This is direct democracy. The mechanism for this consultation is a
referendum or plebiscite. Some liberal democracies use referendums more often
than others.
Canada belongs to the sub-set of all liberal democracies that were founded as
colonies by the British government. Other examples are the United States,
Australia and New Zealand. All of these societies were settled by immigrants and
elites who brought with them the fundamental values of small “l” liberalism.
We summarized the main features of liberal democracy. Our checklist has 8 items
on it. Be sure to know these.
In the world today, liberal democracies are in a minority. On any ranking of the
existing liberal democracies, Canada usually scores well, though we have slipped
in recent years.
At the same time, the EIU’s ranking system demonstrates that in the real world,
liberal democracies are relatively stronger or relatively weaker in their adherence
to small “l” liberal democratic values. Real-world liberal democracies can become
less (or more) liberal and democratic over time. Citizens need to be constantly
vigilant about the state of their liberal democracy

Unwritten Constitutions

First Element:
 For Great Britain, it’s simply not possible to point to a single document as that country’s holistic or blueprint constitution.
 Instead, Britain has a series of laws and other documents which have constitutional status because of their practical importance, including the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), the Bill of Rights (1689), the Habeas Corpus Act (1701), the Reform Act (1832), and the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, among many others. Note the enormous time-span covered.
 These are regarded by the experts as ‘constitutional’ because of their significant and lasting impact on the operation of the British parliamentary system. We rely on the experts to identify which documents have constitutional significance.
 Read all together, they give you important knowledge about how the British constitutional and political system works.

Second element:

And in addition, the British system operates under unwritten constitutional conventions, which have evolved since the 18th century (Mintz reading, p. 219). All of the parliamentary states created by the British inherited these unwritten conventions, including Canada. How these conventions apply in practice is always debatable, as we shall see

Settler or Colonial Parliamentary Democracies such as Canada

Canada Parliamentary democracies created by the British government like Canada have a mixture of A) a written or codified constitution, and B) an unwritten constitution. This is also known as a “hybrid” constitution.

When Britain created a new country such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand by passing a law through the British Parliament, that law became the new country’s original written constitution.And, the British exported their parliamentary system of government to each country. This system operated on the basis of unwritten constitutional conventions.

consistutional hybrids

 a) a law passed by the British Parliament that was the new country’s original written constitution;
 b) the unwritten constitutional conventions of the parliamentary system of democracy.

problems with constitutional hybrids

First Problem
First, the original “written” constitutions were just regular laws passed by the British Parliament. Only the British Parliament can change or update a law passed by the British Parliament. The new countries’ original written constitutions lacked an “amending formula” only they could use, not the
British government. So the overseas parliamentary democracies such as Canada did not control their own written constitutions. You need an “amending formula” to change and update your “written” constitution.

Second Problem
Second, the hybrid models were absolutely unique and novel. The British system did not work that way in Britain itself, as the British political system did not have a written constitution. The British government essentially tacked the unwritten conventions on to the written law passed to create the new country, without trying to integrate them well. So the hybrid models weren’t necessarily well-integrated or coherent.

The British parliament system

The British Parliament stopped calling itself the ‘Imperial’ Parliament after it passed the Statute of
Westminster in 1931, and the Empire evolved into the modern Commonwealth. Canada’s original written constitution was a law passed by the British Parliament, known as the British North America Act, 1867 and renamed in 1982 as the Constitution Act, 1867. “Imperial” Parliament meant the British Parliament legislating for its colonies.

Canadian & US Constitutions compared

The preamble to the BNA Act, compared to the US Declaration of Independence & the US Constitution, tells us something significant about the differences between these two liberal democracies. Unlike the US Constitution, the BNA Act did not contain any grand declarations of small “l” liberal principle. According to the BNA Act’s preamble, Canada was invented because the existing governments controlling British North America, namely the British government in London and the existing provincial governments here, wanted it. In contrast, the United States was created in the name of the people to secure individual rights and create a new system of government that derived its authority exclusively from the people. The US Constitution was composed by revolutionaries determined to create a new political system modelled on small “l” liberal ideology. In contrast the BNA Act was composed by colonial politicians working in partnership with the British government, who had the more limited goal of re-organizing the existing provinces into a new federal system while continuing to practise parliamentary government within the British Empire.

Patriation in 1982

Unlike the US, Canada did not have a revolutionary break from Britain. Our original written constitution, the BNA Act, was a law passed by the British Parliament. That meant Canada did not control its own constitution, since only the British Parliament could amend it. The BNA Act lacked an amending formula, that elected Canadian governments could use to amend the BNA Act to keep it up to date.What is an amending formula? An amending formula is an integral element in a written constitution. All constitutions must be adjusted from time to time to accommodate unanticipated developments and respond to problems. An amending formula is the decision-making procedure for adding or changing language to a written constitution. But the constitution must be protected from unscrupulous politicians. Consequently, the amending formula must be difficult to trigger, in the absence of a broad consensus that the proposed amendment is necessary. An example is the amending formula to the US Constitution. Because the BNA Act was a British law, it could only be amended by the British Parliament. It did not have an amending formula that Canadian governments could access. Instead, Canadian governments had to ask the British government to pass amendments to the BNA Act through the British Parliament.

universal suffrage

the right of all adult citizens to vote regardless of such characteristics as gender, ethnicity, wealth, or education

gerrymander

the manipulation of the divisions of the country into electoral districts so as to benefit a particular party

independent commisions

The contending parties and candidates should be able to observe the casting and counting of votes.

a regular vote

to ensure that those elected to office are held accountable to the people, it is important that elections be held on a fairly regular basis.

electoral system

the system used to translate the votes that people cast into the composition of the legislature and the selection of the government

single member plurality system (SMP)

An electoral system in which voters in each electoral district elect a single representative to the legislature. the candidate with the most votes is elected, even if that candidate did not receive the majority of votes.

electoral college

A body that elects the president of the united states. members of the electoral college from each state are expected to vote for the presidential candidate who has won the most votes in their state

runoff elections

an election held if no candidate receives a majority of votes; generally, only the top two candidates appear on the second ballot to ensure that the winning candidate has a majority of the votes cast

preferential ballot

an electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. if no candidate has a majority of first preferences, the candidate with the least votes is dropped, and the second preferences of those who voted for that candidate are added to the votes of other candidates. this process continues until one candidate has a majority

Proportional representation system

An electoral system in which the proportion of seats a party receives in teh legislature reflects the proportion of votes it has obtained

Coalition government

a form of government in which two or more parties jointly govern, sharing the cabinet positions

a representative democracy

a form of democracy in which citizens elect representatives to teh legislature to make decisions on their behalf

legislature

an institution whose responsibilities include the approval of legislation and the raising and spending of funds by the government

liberal democracy

a political system that combines the liberalideas of limited governmnet individual freedom, and the rule of law with a democratic system of governing based on teh election of representatives

civil society

the voluntary groups and organizations that are not controlled by the state

rule of law

Places limits on government, as it is required to act in accordance with the law.

Political Pluralism

for a liberal democracy to function properly, there must be centres of power that are independent of governmnet, including businesses, unioins, educational institutions, interest groups, political parties, social movements and the media

transparency

Government’s obligation to provide timely access to information and to operate visibly so that it can be held accountable for its actions

public participation

from all sectos of society is important to ensure that governments are responsibe to the needs and wishes of the people

democratic deficit

the substantial level of public dissatisfaction wih the performance of democratic governments and politicians exhibited in low levels of trust in governmnet and politicians, increased protest activity, and a feeling that ordinary people have little influence on government

plebiscitary democracy

a form of democracy in which citizens have greater control than in representative democracy through the use of such devices as referendums, citizens’ initiatives, and recall elections

referendum

a vote by citizens on a particular issue or law

citizens’ initiative

a procedure that gives citizens the right by obtaining a sizable number of signatures on a petition, to have a proposition that they have drafted put to a vote by the electorate for approval

recall

a procedure that allows citizens to remove representatives from office. by gaining a sufficiant number of signatures on a petition citizens can require that their representative seek re-election before the representative’s term is over.

problems with plebiscitary democracy

1. when faced with a number of complex referendum and initiative questions on teh ballot, voters may find it difficult to make informed decisions .

constitution

the fundamental rules and principles by which a state is governed

codified constitution

a constitution whose major provisions are set out in a formal constitutional document or a set of constitutional documents

constitutional conventions

fundamental principles that are consistently followed even though they are not contained in a legal document and are not generally enforceable in the courts

constitution act, 1867

an act of the united kingdom parliament that established Canada by uniting the colonies of canada. it also set out man of the features of Canda’s system of governing

The consitution act: 1982

the act that made the consitution fully canadian, added the charter of rights and freedoms to the consitution, and established procedures for amending the constitutions

Canadian constitutional timeline

Four basic elements of constitutions

1. a preamble

2. provisions concerning the institutions of government, including the procedures for passing laws.

3. provisions establishing the rights and freedoms of the population

4. procedures for amending the consitutions

preamble

many formal constitutions begin with a statement concering the basic values and goals of the country

constitutional monarchy

A system of governing in which the monarch acts as official head of state but is strictly limited in power by the consitution

governing institutions

constitutions establish the basic organization and legal responsibilities of various governing institutions

charter of rights and freedoms

As part of teh constitution act, 1982, the charter protects a variety of rights and freedoms. it is superior to ordinary legislation, explicitly allows the courts to invalidate legislation, and applies to the actions of all governments and organization under the control of government

fundamental freedoms

protect the freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of opinion and expression

democratic rights

include the right of all citizens to vot and hold elected office

mobility rights

the right of every citizen and permanent resident to move and to pursue a livelyihood in any province.

legal rights

including the right to life, liberty, and security of the person the right to be secure against unreasonable search or arbitrary

equality rights

provides that every person is equal under teh law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination on such grounds as race, origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability

language rights

the declarationt hat English and French are the official languages of Canada and New Brunswick and are given equal status in the operations of the Canadian and New Brunswick governments.

Reasonable limits clause

a provision int eh charter of rights and freedoms that allows for ‘reasonable limit's; to be placed on rights and freedoms, provided that the limits can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society

notwithstanding clause

a provision in the charter of rights and freedoms that allows a legislative body to explicitly declare that a particular law (Rekated to certain parts of the charter) shall operate notwithstanding the provisions of the charter. such a declaration is only effective for five years although it can be re-enacted as often as is desired.

constitutional amendment

a formal change the constitution

meech lake accor

a 1987 package of proposed constitutional changes that wwas not passed. it contained controversial provisions including the recognition of quebec as a ‘distinct society’

charlottetown accord

A 1992 package of proposed constitutional changes, includiing recongnition of the inherent right of indigenous people to self government and major changes to the Sanate. it was defeated in a referendum

judicial review

the authroity of the courts to strike down legislation or governmnetal actions that the courts deem to be in violation of the consitution

parliamentary sovereignty

a basic principle of the british system of governing, recognizing parliametn as the supreme law-making body such that the courts cannot inalidate an act parliament

parliamentary system

a system of governing in which there is a close interralationship between the political exectuive and parliament. the executive is generally composed of members of the house of commons and must maintain teh support of the house of commons and must maintain the support of the house of commons

responsible governmnet

a governing system in which the political executive is accountable to parliament for its actions and must retain the support of the elected members of parliament to remain in office.

westminster system

a governing system that developed in Britain featuring single party majority rule, executive dominance of parliament, and an adversarial relationship between the governing party and the opposition

depiction of the Canadian Parliamentary system

majority government

the government formed when teh prime minister’s party has a majority of the members of the House of Commons; thus a single party forms the governmnet

minority government

a single party governs, but that party does not have a majority of the members in teh hosue of commons. thus a minority government needs to gain the support of one or more other parties to pass legislation and to stay in office

head of state

in a parliamentary system, the head of the state is an important but largely ceremonial position. however the head of state has the responsibility to ensure that a legitimate government is in place

governor general

the person who carries out the duties and responsibilities of the monarch at the national level in Canada

lieutenant- governor

the person who carries out the duties and responsibilities of the monarch at the provincial level in canada

prerogative powers

powers of the monarch that have not been taken away by parliament. tehse are also known as reserve powers

dissolution

the termination of parliament followed by the holding of an election for house of commons

prorogation

the suspension of parliament and its committees by the governor general at the request of teh prime minister prorogation ends a session of parliament such that the work of committees is ended and bills that have not been passed have to be reintroduced unless parliament in the newt session agrees otherwise.

head of government

the person who heads the executive side of government and is usually responsible for choosing the Cabinet. In Canada, the prime minister is the head of the Canadian government, while the heads of provincial governments are known as premiers

cabinet

the members of the political executive. the Cabinet in a parliamentary system is led by the prime minister, with many or most cabinet ministers having the responsibility of heading a governmnet department

executive dominance

a parliamentary system that places considerable power in the hands of teh prime minister and cabinet through their ability to control house of commons, particularly in a majority government situation

Privy Council Office (PCO)

an administrative structure that is directly responsible to the Ccanadian prime minister has a central role in organizing the Cabinet and coordinating and directing the activities of governmnet, and provides police advice to the prime minister

Prime Minister’s Oficce (PMO)

the office that provides support and political advice to the to the prime minister.

prime minister government

the view that the prime minister has become the dominant member of the political executive, rather than first among equals in the cabinet

treasure board

a permanent Cabinet committee with its own staff and minister that plays a majorrole in governing in Canada because of its responsibility for the expenditure and management practices of governmnet

Cabinet Solidarity

the convention in a parliamentary system that each member of the cabinet is expected to fully support and defend the decisions and actions that cabinet takes.

central agencies and Central departments

organizations that provide direction and coordination to governmnet. IN canada, the key central agencies are the privy council office, the prime Minister’s office, the Treasure board sectariate, and the department of finance.

collective responsibility

the convention that the cabinet as a group will defend, explain and take responsibility for the actions of the governmnet in parliament

cabinet secrecy

the convention that the views expressed in cabinet remain secret to eneable full and frank discussion and maintain cabinet solidarity

Canadian House of Commons

the elected chamber of parliament with each member representing a particular electoral district