Ch 13 - Parties and the Party System Flashcards
What are Political Parties?
- Organized groups
What do political parties nominate?
- Candidates
What do political parties contest?
- Elections
What do political parties attempt to influence?
- Personnel & policy of government
How do political parties differ from organizations?
- Broader in Scope
- Recruit Decision Makers
- Contest Elections
What type of political parties are more democratic?
- Inverted Pyramidal: bottom Up
What type of political parties are less democratic?
- Pyramidal: Top Down
Where can you see a party’s internal democracy?
In Its:
- Membership
- Leadership
- Policy Makers
What types of party organizations are there? (name 5)
- Cadre
- Mass
- Franchise
- Cartel
- Electoral-professional
- Pragmatic
- Brokerage
- PRogrammatic
- Ideological
- Class-based
Explain the Cadre Party Type
- Elite Dominated
- Loose Organization
- Focused on getting members elected
- Top-down
Explain the Mass Party Types
- Challenged elite domination of political life
- Organized the ‘mass’ of population
- Party conventions
- bottom-up
- Michel’s Iron Law of Oligarchy
Explain Michel’s Iron Law of Oligarchy
- All organizations end up being controlled by a small group of people (party elite / leaders)
What is the contemporary classification of brokerage?
- Catch-all
What is the contemporary classification of pragmatic?
- rational
- Electoral-professional
What is the contemporary classification of ideological?
- Class Based
- Programmatic
Explain Electoral-professional parties
- Focus on winning elections
- Rely on professionals to market
- Avoid taking sharp ideological positions
- Related to brokerage
Explain programmatic parties
- distinct ideological perspectives
- Less likely to sacrifice ideology for vote
- Might shift toward electoral professional model if experience some success
When was the first party system in Canada?
1867-1921
When was the second party system?
1921-1957
When was the Third Party System in Canada?
1957-1993
When was the Fourth Party System in Canada?
1993 - 2015
Explain one-party dominance
- 1 Major Party
- 1 Minor Party
Explain the Two-party system
- 2 Major parties
Explain two-plus party system
- 2 major parties
- more than 0 minor party
Explain the three party system
- 3 Major parties
What are political ideologies?
- Package of interrelated ideas/beliefs about government, society, economy & human nature
What do political ideologies inspire?
- political action
What are some political ideologies in Canada?
- Liberalism
- Conservatism
- Socialism
How do left and right wing party ideologies differ fiscally?
Left-Wing
- Favours gov’t spending on social programs
Right-wing
- Favours lower taxes & debt reduction
How do left and right wing party ideologies differ Institutionally?
Left-Wing
- Favours reform of democratic structures
Right-Wing
- Favours Traditions
How do left and right wing party ideologies differ Socially?
Left-Wing
- PRomotes Inclusion
Right-Wing
- Promotes Conformity
How do left and right wing party ideologies differ Legally?
Left-Wing
- Favours restrictions on law enforcement & military action
Right-Wing
- Tends to favour fewer restrictions & more punitive
What was the first organized political party in Canada?
- The Conservative PArty
What party type did the conservative party start as?
- Cadre Party
What does the conservative’s party ideology range from?
- Centre-right to right
Does the federal conservative party have affiliations with the provincial conservative parties?
- NO
What is the conservative party’s political philosophy?
- Conservatism balances fiscal libertarianism and social traditionalism
When was the last time conservatives formed government?
- 2011
Who has been in power in Ottawa the most out of the political parties?
- Liberals
What are the Liberals referred to as?
- The natural governing party
Where does the Liberal’s ideology sit?
- Political centre, sometimes more right and others more left
Are the provincial liberal parties connected to the federal liberal party of Canada?
- NO
What is the Liberal political philosophy?
- Liberalism balances equality of result & equality of right
What is the New Democratic Party (NDP) rooted in?
- 1932 Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)
- Became NDP in 1961
Where are the NDP’s origins?
- Socialist democratic movement of 1930s
What does the NDP promote?
- Interests of workers and farmers
Has the NDP ever formed government at the national level?
- NO
What is the NDP political ideology?
- Centre-left to the left
What is the NDP beginning based on?
- Formal partnership with labour
- Canada’s largest trade union
Does the NDP have close ties between provincial and federal parties?
- YES
When did the Bloc Quebecois arise?
- 1990
What does the Bloc Quebecois do?
Within Quebec
- Field Candidates
- Contest Elections
- Advocates for Quebec’s Nationalism/Sovereignty
When was the Green Party’s first seat win?
- 2011
What does the Green Party’s focus fall to?
- Environmental Issues
- Health Care
- Human Rights
- Electoral Reform
What did the Green Party do in the 2008 Election with the Liberal Party?
- Colluded for Liberal Party to not field candidate in party leader’s ridings
What did the other parties do to the Green Party in the 2011 election?
Colluded to keep May out of debates
What are the two perspectives on Canada’s Party Ideology?
- No basic ideological difference between Liberals and Conservatives
- Genuine ideological differences exist
