Module 5A

Parliamentary vs. Presidential Systems

• When we talk about how a country's government is structured, especially in democracies, there are two main ways the executive (the part that runs the country) and the legislative (the part that makes laws) branches interact.

• Two main democratic models - Parliamentary (like the Westminster model in Canada)

  • Presidential (e.g., United States)

• In a parliamentary system, the executive branch is linked very closely with the legislature.

• Parliamentary key traits - Fusion of executive and legislature (meaning the government's leaders are also members of the law-making body)

  • The Executive (the Prime Minister and their Cabinet of ministers) must be members of, and keep the support of, the elected chamber (like the House of Commons)

  • This system operates on the concept of responsible government (which means the government must always have the support of the parliament, and this will be defined in more detail below)

• In a presidential system, the executive and legislative branches are distinct and separately elected.

• Presidential key traits - Separate election of President and Congress (people vote for the President directly, and they vote for Congress members separately)

  • Fixed terms for both branches (meaning the President serves for a set number of years, and Congress members also serve for a set number of years, regardless of votes of no confidence)

  • The President serves as both the Head of State (the ceremonial figurehead of the country) and the Head of Government (the person who actually leads the administration)

  • Cabinet members (the President's team of advisors) are not legislators; they must give up their seats in Congress if they want to be in the Cabinet

Core Features of the Westminster System

• The Westminster System is a specific type of parliamentary democracy, named after the Palace of Westminster where the British Parliament sits.

• Definition (Randeck): a model where the political executive (the government's leaders) is given a lot of power to lead effectively

• Definition (Stein): where administrative (running the country) and legislative (making laws) responsibilities are combined; the Cabinet usually leads the majority party in the House

• This system is described by scholar Arend Lijphart as majoritarian rather than consensus – meaning it tends to favor the party that wins the most votes, allowing them to govern with a strong hand, rather than seeking broad agreement among many parties.

  • It often results in single-party majority cabinets (a government formed by one party that has more than half the seats)

  • The electoral system used, called First-Past-the-Post (FPTP), tends to give the leading party more seats in parliament than their share of the total votes.

• To understand how the FPTP system can create a disproportional outcome between votes and seats, consider this example:

• Seat–Vote Distortion Example - Imagine $3$ ridings (electoral districts)

  • If the Conservatives win Riding $1$ and $2$ with $40\%$ of the votes in each

  • But they lose Riding $3$ with $20\%$ of the votes (meaning another party won that riding)

  • The Conservatives would have $2/3 = 66\%$ of the seats in Parliament vs. their total votes across all three ridings, which would be approximately $37\%$

  • This illustrates how the number of seats a party wins can be greater than their percentage of votes under FPTP

Responsible Government

• This is a cornerstone of the Westminster system.

• Definition: The Executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet) must always maintain the confidence (support) of the elected legislature; if they lose a confidence vote, they must either resign or ask the Governor General to call an election.

• It has two aspects:

• Twin dimensions - Enabling: it gives the government the legitimacy (right) to act because they have the legislature's support

  • Constraining: it means the government cannot act without legislative support

• Historical adoption in Canada: It was recognized in $1848$ after a period of political unrest (post Patriote & Upper-Canada rebellions).

• Modern practice – how it works today:

• Majority govt. → when a party holds more than half the seats, confidence votes are almost automatic because they have enough votes to pass anything.

  • Minority govt. → when no single party has more than half the seats, the governing party must get support from at least one opposition party for important confidence votes (e.g., the Speech from the Throne, which outlines the government's plans; the Budget; or explicit motions of confidence).

Party Discipline

• This refers to how political parties operate within Parliament.

• Definition: Members of Parliament (MPs) from the same party usually vote together as a single bloc, especially when they are whipped (meaning party leaders tell them how to vote).

• Rationale (Reasons for it):

• Ensures continued confidence for the governing party (prevents individual MPs from undermining the government)

  • Presents a unified public image of the party

  • Criticised for limiting how well individual MPs can represent their constituents' specific needs, as they must often prioritize the party line.

The Crown in Canada

• Canada's system of government involves the Crown, which means it recognizes the British monarch as its Head of State.

• Canada = Constitutional Monarchy (a system where the monarch's power is limited by a constitution)

• Current Monarch: $ext{Charles III}$ (He is the Head of State, a largely symbolic role representing the nation).

• Dual Executive - In Canada, executive power is split:

  • The Monarch / Governor General (who acts on behalf of the Monarch in Canada, holding mostly ceremonial powers and some important "reserve powers")

  • The Prime Minister (who is the Head of Government, holding the real political power and responsible for running the country)

• The Governor General (GG) is the Monarch's representative in Canada.

• Governor General (GG) - Appointed by the Monarch on the Prime Minister’s advice (meaning the PM chooses who it will be)

  • The GG Carries out many important, mostly ceremonial, duties:

  • Swears-in the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, and the Chief Justice

  • Summons (calls parliament to meet), prorogues (suspends parliament for a period), and dissolves Parliament (ends a session of parliament and calls an election)

  • Delivers the Speech from the Throne (an address prepared by the government outlining its plans)

  • Grants Royal Assent (the final approval needed for a bill to become law)

  • Appoints Lieutenant Governors (in provinces), judges, and Privy Council members (all on the PM's advice)

• Prerogative Powers are special powers that used to belong entirely to the Crown, but now are mostly exercised by the Prime Minister's government.

• Prerogative Powers (formally belong to the Crown, but functionally used by the PM) - These include powers related to:

  • Foreign affairs, making treaties with other countries, commanding the defence forces, granting pardons, and making senior appointments.

• A well-known historical event that tested the GG's role:

• Famous controversy – King–Byng Affair ($1925$–$1926$) - The Governor General (Byng) refused Prime Minister King’s request to dissolve Parliament and call an election; this caused a big debate about how much discretionary power the GG actually had.

  • Aftermath: This event led to a general understanding that Governors General should rarely, if ever, defy the Prime Minister's advice.

Prime Minister & Cabinet Powers

• It's important to note that the powers of the Prime Minister and Cabinet are Not codified explicitly in the written Constitution; instead, they come from long-standing practices (convention) and the transfer of old Crown (monarch's) powers (prerogatives).

• Key PM prerogatives - The Prime Minister's most significant powers include:

  • Advising the GG on dissolution/Prorogation of Parliament → which directly triggers elections

  • Choosing the Governor General

  • Forming the Cabinet and assigning ministerial roles (portfolios)

  • Directly appointing senators, judges, deputy ministers, heads of government agencies, and diplomats

  • Shaping the structure of government (e.g., creating new departments or merging existing ones)

• The Cabinet, as a group, also holds important powers:

• Cabinet collective powers - They can:

  • Introduce $ext{money bills}$ (bills related to government spending or taxes, which only the government can propose)

  • Control the legislative timetable and debate time in Parliament

  • Issue Orders-in-Council (legal instruments made by the Cabinet under authority of an Act of Parliament)

  • Act quasi-judicially (meaning they can act like a court in certain situations) as an appeal body over some regulatory tribunals (e.g., CRTC, which regulates broadcasting).

• The Cabinet also works through various committees:

• Committees - Important ones include:

  • Priorities & Planning (chaired by the PM, overseeing key government initiatives)

  • Treasury Board (deals with government spending and management)

  • Ad-hoc committees (temporary committees created for specific issues, e.g., Build Canada, Canada-US relations)

Cabinet Principles

• These are unwritten rules that guide how the Cabinet operates.

• Cabinet Solidarity & Secrecy - This means:

  • Internal debates and discussions within the Cabinet are kept confidential.

  • Publicly, all ministers must defend and support Cabinet decisions; if a minister cannot agree with a decision, they are expected to resign.

• Individual Ministerial Responsibility - Each minister is personally accountable to Parliament for the actions, spending, and any scandals within their specific government department.

Building a Cabinet – Selection Factors

• When choosing Cabinet ministers, the Prime Minister looks for specific qualities and representation.

• Most Cabinet members must (usually) also be MPs (Members of Parliament) in the House of Commons.

• Senators are included only in rare, specific circumstances, often to ensure regional balance.

• Representational criteria - The PM tries to ensure the Cabinet reflects the diversity of the country:

  • Region (different parts of the country)

  • Language (Anglophone / Francophone balance)

  • Ethnic diversity

  • Gender parity (an increasingly common goal for equal representation of men and women)

  • Sectoral expertise (though secondary, sometimes ministers are chosen for their knowledge in a specific field)

Central Agencies (Federal)

• These are powerful government bodies that support the Prime Minister and Cabinet in coordinating policies across different departments.

1. Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) - This is the political staff of the Prime Minister, responsible for messaging, scheduling, and developing partisan (party-related) strategy.

2. Privy Council Office (PCO) - This is a non-partisan (neutral) civil service body that provides expert advice, coordinates policy across government, and acts as the Cabinet secretariat (managing Cabinet meetings and decisions).

   • It is headed by the Clerk of the Privy Council, who is the top public servant in Canada.

3. Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) - This agency supports the Treasury Board Committee.

   • It primarily oversees all government spending ($ext{expenditure}$), human resources policies, and administrative management.

4. Department of Finance - This department is responsible for the overall economic health of the country, including the budget (fiscal framework) and taxation policy.

• Emerging 5th: Department of Justice (its role became more significant after the $1982$ Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as it reviews laws for their constitutionality).

Comparative & Practical Insights

• When comparing Canada's system to others, particularly the U.S.:

• Check-and-balance contrast: In the U.S., the President might face a Congress controlled by an opposing party (a hostile Congress), which can create significant roadblocks. In contrast, a Canadian PM with a majority government faces very few institutional roadblocks because their party controls Parliament.

• Scholarly critiques of the Canadian system often focus on the concentration of power:

  • Savoie ("Governing from the Centre"): Argues that the PMO and PCO have become so powerful that the Cabinet itself is sometimes reduced to acting like a "focus group" rather than a decision-making body.

  • Jeffrey Simpson: Called the PM a "friendly dictator" in the 1990s, highlighting the immense power the PM wields.

Historical Timeline Highlights

• Key dates in Canada's political development:

• $1848$ – Responsible Government was formally recognized in the Province of Canada.

• $1867$ – The Constitution Act established Canada and formally vested executive authority (governing power) in the Crown (sections $9$, $15$).

• $1925$–$1926$ – The King–Byng Affair occurred, testing the Governor General's discretionary powers.

• $1982$ – The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted, enhancing the role of the Justice Dept. in reviewing laws.

Ethical & Philosophical Implications

• There's an ongoing discussion about the balance between different values in the Canadian system.

• Tension between efficiency (which comes from majoritarian dominance) and deliberation/representation (which comes from seeking broader consensus): meaning, is it more important for the government to act quickly and decisively, or to ensure all voices are heard and represented?

• Ongoing debate on:

  • Reform of FPTP to proportional systems (changing the voting system so that seats in parliament better reflect the percentage of votes a party receives).

  • Reduction of party discipline to empower individual MPs (allowing MPs more freedom to vote according to their conscience or constituents' wishes, rather than strictly following the party line).

  • Modern relevance of the monarchy vs. republican options (questions about whether Canada should remain a constitutional monarchy or become a republic with an elected head of state).

Real-World Relevance & Exam Tips

• To apply these concepts, consider:

• Minority government scenarios (e.g., $2004$, $2008$, $2019$) clearly show how confidence conventions work.

• Know confidence vote triggers: The Speech from the Throne, the Budget, and explicit motions of non-confidence are key moments.

• Be able to diagram seat–vote distortions under FPTP to show how a party can win more seats than their vote share.

• Review central agency roles—these are common exam questions, especially short-answer topics.

• Remember definitions verbatim (e.g., Responsible Government, Cabinet Solidarity) for identification questions.