WEEK 5

What are Political Parties?

-              An organized group that nominates candidates and contests elections in order to influence the personnel and polices of government

Functions of Political Parties

-              Recruiting

-              Raise money

-              Aggregate interests

-              Formulate polices and influence public policy

-              Educate us and impact public opinion

Kinds of Political Parties

-              Brokerage Parties

-              Class based or Ideological

-              Fringe Parties or Minor Parties, Single Issue Parties

-              One Party Dominance Theory (Liberal Party)

Ideology in Canada

-              Classical Liberalism

-              Liberalism today (business liberal vs welfare liberals)

-              Neoliberalism

-              Democratic Socialism

-              Toryism

-              Libertarianism

What does it Mean to be Progressive

-              You want change

-              The state should play a large and active role in improving people’s lives

-              Protecting people from illness, unemployment, etc.

-              Use the state to create equality of opportunity

-              We trend to see competition between those who want change and those who want to keep things the way they are – maintain the status quo

Political Parties in Canada

-              What is wedge politics?

o   Wedge politics is when politicians use controversial issues to divide people and gain support from one side

-              How important is the leader?

o   A leader is important because they guide decisions, shape policies, and inspire support, but their influence depends on the system and team around them.

-              What about election campaigns?

o   Election campaigns are key for candidates to share their message, gain support, and win votes through strategies like ads, speeches, and outreach.

-              Show me the money

o   "Show me the money" means money is essential for running a successful campaign.

-              What are integrated parties?

o   Integrated parties are well-organized, with members working together and sharing a common agenda.

Liberal party

-              Dominant Notional Party

-              Pragmatic

-              Policies shift with time and circumstances

-              Ideology grounded in the Charter of Right and Freedom

Conservative party of Canada

-              Lean more towards economic libertarianism (neoliberalism)

-              Prefer the market rather than government determining course of investment

-              Tension between social conservative and more progressive members of the party

New democratic party (NDP)

-              Most successful social democratic party

-              Origins can be traced back to Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCP) in the 1930s

-              Combines with Canadian Labour Congress in 1961 to form NDP

-              Does influence policy

Green

-              Formed in early 1980s

-              Focus on environmental

-              Issues, otherwise hard to distinguish from Liberals and NDP

-              Considerable challenges with our electoral system

People’s party of Canada

-              Social conservatives who broke away from Conservative Party

-              Reduction of immigration, would leave Paris accord

-              Libertarian and conservative values

Parties and Ideology

Left Wing

-              NDP party

-              Bloc Quebecois

-              Green Party

Center

-              Liberal Party

Right Wing

-              Conservative Party

-              PPC

Key Phrases and Concepts for Left wings/centre

-              Equality

-              Social Justice

-              Social Democracy

-              Environmentalism

Key Phrases and Concepts for Right wing/center

-              Economic Freedom

-              Free Market

-              Economic Liberalism (low taxes, small government)

Law of Curvilinear Disparity

The Vast Majority of the Population

-              Is not ideologically motivated

-              Relatively indifferent towards politics

-               Are members of the electorate but not of a party

People who are ideological

-              are more likely to join political parties in order to follow their ideological convictions

 Election campaigns

• campaigns do matter

• Leaders debate