Poli 101

Session

Time when parliament is meeting

Prorogation

Ending of parliament by Governor General, no election called

Sittings

Meetings when the HOC is in session and conducting business

Throne Speech

Speech by the Governor General highlighting priorities and agenda at the start of the session

Confidence Vote

Vote determining whether government still has the support of the people (e.g budget), failing means election

Dissolution

Formal end of parliament, triggers election

Electoral District

Area represented by one MP

Government members

MPs that belong to the party that forms government

Private Members

MPs who aren’t cabinet members or parliamentary secretaries

Opposition MPs

MPs from parties not in government

Shadow Cabinet

Opposition MPs who shadow government ministers and hold them accountable

Opposition Critics

Opposition MPs who analyze and criticize a specific department

Front Benches

Seats at the front occupied by cabinet ministers and senior opposition leaders

Backbenchers

MPs not in leadership roles

Speaker

Neutral officer of the house who moderates debates and enforces rules

Clerk of the House

Advisor to MPs and speaker, oversees administration and records

Sergeant at arms

Security and ceremonial duties like carrying the mace

Hansard

Written transcript of everything said in parliament

Auditor General

Officer who tracks government spending to ensure money is used properly

Parliamentary Budget Office

Independent analysis of government finances and budgets, as well as policy costs

Conflict of interest and ethics officer

Ensures MPs follow ethics rule and avoid conflicts of interest

Bills

Proposed laws

Private Members’ bills

Bills proposed by members who are not cabinet

Government bills

Bills made by cabinet ministers, make up most major laws

First reading

Bill is introduced

Second reading

Debate on general idea or principle of bill

Report stage

House reviews and considers amendments

Third reading

Final debate and vote on bill

Royal Assent

Formal approval by Governor General, bill becomes law

Proclamation

When law comes into force

Resolutions

Formal decisions or expressions of opinion by the house

Scrutiny of public expenditure

Parliament’s role in determining how money is spent

Estimates

Government spending plans that must be approved by the parliament

Standing Orders

Written rules that dictates how House of Commons operates

Closure

Procedure used to end debate quickly and force a vote

Senate reform

Proposals to change senate (abolishing/defining terms etc)

Delegates

Representatives who vote according to their constituents

Trustees

Representatives who use their own judgement

Party member

Person who officially belongs to a party

Mandate

Authority given to government by voters to carry out policies after winning

Floor crossing

When elected representative switches political parties while in office

Microcosm theory of representation

Legislature should represent population’s diversity

Plurality

Winning the most votes but not necessarily a majority

Single member plurality

First past the post, person with the most votes win

Constituencies

Same as ridings, areas represented by an MP

Electoral boundaries commissions

Independent bodies that redraw riding boundaries to reflect population

Community of interest

Group of people who share common social, economic, or historical interests, considered when redrawing boundaries

Electoral quotient

Average population per electoral district

General election

Election where every seat is contested

By election

Election to decide a single seat

Chief electoral officer

Oversees federal elections to ensure they are fair

Returning officer

Officer in charge of running elections in a specific riding

Polls

Place people go to vote

Enumerators

Officers who register and identify eligible voters before election

Scrutineers

People who oversee voting and ballot counting process

Proportional representation

Parties gain seats proportional to the amount of votes they get

Party List system

Voters vote for a party rather than a local representative, seats given according to total party share in votes

Mixed member proportional

Voters get two votes, one for local representative and one for party

Alternative vote or preferential ballot

Voters rank candidates, if nobody gets majority, lowest candidate is eliminated until winner

Single transferable vote

Voters rank candidates, candidates with the least votes or excess votes get votes transferred to other candidates. Can have more than one MP per riding

Five functions of political parties

recruitment, fundraising, interest aggregation, policy development, and political education

Interest Aggregation

Combining different public demands into smaller set of policies

Ideology

Set of beliefs that set a party’s policies

Multi party system

Many parties compete and share power

Single party system

Only one legal party controls government

Electoralist parties

Focus on winning elections and broader voter appeal

Brokerage parties

Appeal to groups by compromising

Ideological parties

Strongly based on a set of beliefs or principles

High Partisanship

Strong belief in party ideals, hoping it will win in fair competition

Low partisanship

Practical day to day side, focused on winning election

Pragmatic

Focused on practical solutions rather than ideology

Party systems

Overall system of political competition in a country

Single issue parties

Focus on one major issue like taxes

Protest parties

Express dissatisfaction with current system, challenge mainstream politics

Parliamentary wing

Party members who are elected officials

Extra parliamentary wing

Party members outside legislature

Unitary system

All power is held by government who delegates it to lower levels

Federal System

Power is distributed between regional and federal government

Section 91

Power of federal government (Defense, banking, criminal law)

Section 92

Power of provincial government (Education, health, property)

Residual power

Power not listed in the constitution, belongs to federal

Concurrent

Power shared by provincial and federal government (immigration and agriculture)

Disallowance

Federal government can disallow a provincial law

Reservation

Governor General can delay approval for provincial law for federal review

Centralized

Most power held by federal government

Decentralized

Power given to provinces and regions

Quasi Federalism (1867-1896)

Divides power between levels of government but decision making is largely federally dominated

Classical Federalism (1896-1914)

Separation of power between provincial and federal

Emergency Federalism (1914-1960)

Federal gets expanded power during war

Cooperative Federalism (1960-present)

Federal and Provincial work together and share responsibilities

Executive federalism

Decision making happens through negotiation between provincial and federal execs rather than legislature

Open federalism

Government respects provincial jurisdiction more, less intervention

Fiscal federalism

Financial resources and responsibilities divided between federal and provincial levels

Direct tax

Paid directly by individuals (e.g income tax)

Indirect tax

Tax attached on paid goods and paid indirectly

Tax room

Ability for government level to raise taxes without conflict with other levels

Federal spending power

Ability government has to spend money in provincial jurisdictions using transfers

Conditional grant

Federal money given to provinces with restrictions on how to spend it

Unconditional grant

Federal money with no restrictions on how to spend

Equalization payment

Transfers from richer provinces to poorer ones to ensure similar levels of quality across country