Chapter 9-political parties, elections and democracy Flashcards
What are the three maxims about party politics in Canada?
1-Canadian democracy does not depend on the existence of political parties
2-parties do not exist solely to campaign for office
3-parties are not the shapeless outdated elite driven organizations they are sometimes made out to be
What is a political party
Political party is a formal organization of politically minded citizens to unite under a common label and contest elections
Political entity that runs candidates in elections in an attempt to shape government policy and laws
What are the different functions of political parties?
-Aggregating interest- political parties operate as vessels that collect the many points of view on issues identified positions advocate best way forward
-Articulating interests-different points of view on issues
Selecting a leader
-Choosing candidates-recruit and run candidates for spot in the legislative assembly
-Promote government agenda
-Coordinate a legislative agenda
Lecture
What is a political party
-Smaller parties may seek influence
-natural result of extension a franchise and the adversarial nature of representative politics
-Central linking mechanism
Bidirectional political messaging
-class of politicians
Add onto the books definition
What are the three “coordination problems” modern parties have emerged and evolved to address?
- party in electorate (PIE) external coordination -supporters
Organize mass Electorate
Mass parties
Catch all parties
-party in organization(Po) networking –members
Connecting party masses to the party –elite
-Party in government(PIG) -International coordination- elites
Organizing elites within assemblies
“Cadre Parties” - still somewhat true in Canada
-party in campaigns- as election machine
Lecture
What are political party functions?
Structure The vote Integrate mobilize mass public Recruit political leaders Organized government Form public policy Aggregate interests (Anthony king) Interest articulation aggregation political integration, political socialization(Gabriel Almond)
What are the bases of political parties
1- institutions: electoral systems, Parliament, Federal provincial party systems2- sociological underpinnings: basis of support policy platforms reflect support diversity of society
3- competitive circumstances: shape resources, appeal, policies
What are elite or cadre parties??
Cadre or elite:
Loosely structured elite centred minimal organization outside of legislature
What are the 6 roles of political parties?
1- aggregate interests- Calex point of view on issues identify position and advocate best way forward
2-articulating interests- promote different Waze at looking at issues and encourages public discussions about government
3- selecting a litre- political parties are organizations that identify people who want to leave government and are selected
4- choosing candidates- political parties coordinate recruiting people who want to run in elections and be representatives in legislative assembly
5- run election campaigns- political parties field candidates who run under party banner provide resources, and policy platforms all to connect voters
6- coordinating a legislative agenda- political parties organize legislative affairs to ensure cohesion and not instability
What are some characteristics of elite parties?
Small political party run by people with a scribe social status
Concerned with organizing boats in legislature and appealing to mail the orders
Caucus made most decisions and those who ran the party had power over resources and privileges
Closed cadre of upper class
What led to the change of an upper class elite party to mass parties?
Inclusion of women and property limitations broadens the voter base emerged after World War I
both parties or phased out today
What is a mass party?
Highly developed organizations which aspire to unless large percentage of the votes as party members
Grassroots political party is characterized by efforts to sign up members emerged after World War I
Emphasis turn from organizing a lease to reforming society in leadership for mass parties about ideas not character of the leader(elite parties)
Mass parties link to quasi-political organizations like labour unions to business groups etc.
What is a catch all party (modern cadre)??
Describe some characteristics of this type of party
Competitive political party that prioritizes design effective public policy and election strategies
Find ways to win to improve society
Appealing to voters be plants
Adapting to preferences of majority
Charisma of party leader
Party priority to raise funds out side membership including government subsidies
Shift policies to appeal to majority without abandoning core ideologies
Predominance of the professional leadership groups but a high degree of accountability
Low member/voter ratio
Maintenance and structure of a mass party (vertical organization)
Reliance public subsidy for members for financial resources
Strong and brought orientation to the voter
What are some unusual characteristics of Canadian parties?
Organization loose except perhaps the NDP
Constituency associations essential bit sporadic
Policy formation limited role for members
Membership cynical nonrepresentative campaign centric(leader or election)
Federal and provincial party systems somewhat distinct
Leadership selection- caucus convention primary
What are the 3 leadership election models?
Caucus model
Convention model
One member one vote
What are the key components of the structure of Canadian parties
National office- leader, national/executive/management committee
Caucus
National conventions -Biennial policy convention in leadership conventions
Standing policy committee-women,youth aboriginals
Local constituency associations-
Nominate, elect leaders, fight elections, develop policy
Provincial Party linkages- distinct party systems- attempted except ndp
Describe the caucus model for party leader selection
Participants- elected memebers mp’s
Selection procedure- behind closed doors competition between candidates
Ex. Liberals igfnatieff 2008
Bloc quebeqois bouchard 1990
Describe the convention in party leadership selection model
Participants- party activists (narrow) delegates to convention elected by party members
Selection procedures- party leadership convention, after months of campaigning Example - liberal 2016- dion
Pc mulrouny 1993
Describe the one member one vote party leadership selection model
Participants- party activists broad and party members
Selection procedures-votes cast by party members some voters cast at convention most electronically
Examples- pc harper 2004
Layton ndp 2010
What is the franchise model of Canadian parties
R.k Carty (“ The politics of Tecumeh Corners; 2002)
Challenge: build a nationwide electoral coalition
Geographic expand diverse interests
Smp/fptp electoral system
Solution: build electoral “franchises”, R and D marketing,branding, management, training, licensing
:Resources (capital personnel), specialization, delivery, consumer feedback
“Local autonomy for national discipline”
Relationships may be…
(A) symmetrical
(Con)federal
Stratarchic/oligarchic/autocratic, technocratic
What is a brokerage party?
Synonym for catchall party
Brokers competing regional demands
Difference between control party in the brokerage party is Brokerage parties try to explicitly reconcile the wide variety of regional interests in Canadian society eg liberals- brokering quebec with the rest of canada
Less common on provincial level
What is a major party?
Political party that has many supporters and large organizational infrastructure - significant daily presences
Leaders compete to be head of government or leader of opposition
What is a minor party?
Small pp w less support and infrastructure than major
Largely dormant until campaign pending
What is the left wing ideology
Higher taxes I’m rich and big business revenues want to strengthen social programs disadvantage provided with support Street you will probably example
Ndp, bloc, green
Describe right wing ideology
Reduce taxes to stimulate in growth private sector
Reduce size of government- taxes low and reduce government services
Build society more self-reliant and less dependent on state ex conservatives
What is the difference between traditional social Democrats and third way social democrats?
Traditional-branch of socialism committed to replacing capitalism with a more cooperative economic system
Third way - branch of socialism that accepts capitalism and aims to harness it to achieve equality of result
Eg NDP
What is the difference tween the welfare liberals and business liberals?
Welfare- seeks to acheive equality of opportunity in social
Business seeks to acheive equality of opportunity in economic terms
Eg LIberals
What is the difference between red Tories and blue Tories
Both old right conservatism!
Red- promotes preservation of social fabric and government institutions
Blue- promotes economic nationalism and smaller government
What is the difference between neoconservativism and neoliberalism?
Both new right conservatism!
Neoconservatism- promotes protection national values community safety and national security
Neoliberalism- favors less government intervention in economy
