Lecture 4 - Government Policy Making Process Flashcards
What are private members’ bills?
introduced by MP’s NOT in cabinet (includes opposition party MP’s and gov. party backbench MP’s)
How often do private members’ bills get passed?
infrequently;
What is the purpose of private members’ bills if they rarely get passed?
primarily to draw attention to issues. bills = proposed law
What are government bills?
sponsored by the cabinet minister. Almost 100% of the time these bills get passed into law in a majority gov. Somewhat lesser of a probability in a minority gov. (good chance of becoming a statute of law but not guarantee b/c depends on other minorities.
What is an example of a government bill?
bill to create new financial aid program for farmers would be introduced by minister of agriculture.
What is the purpose of the dual decision-making process and what are the two sides of it?
so that politians have both sides of advice. The political side - technical side; and the bureaucratic side - expert.
Who is involved on the political side?
cabinet (PM & ministers) & their partisan political advisors
Who is involved on the bureaucratic side?
civil servants, interest groups voluntarily & informally consulted by civil servants
How many steps are there total when turning a policy into a law?
9
What are the steps?
- policy idea
- idea written into proposal by bureaucrats in a particular department
- get informal acceptance from other ministers & bureaucrats in other dep. that are affected by proposal
- IF relevant dep. minister proceeds with policy, then relevant cabinet committee will look at financial, political, economic, social etc. perspectives
- entire cabinets accepts or rejects - all ministers must accept. (cabinet solidarity, cabinet secrecy)
If cabinet decision requires passing a new statute what are the continued steps from above?
- gov. party caucus informed of policy (where politics (voiced by MP’s) and bureaucratic gov planning (as explained by ministers) meet. Cabinet policy usually NOT altered so cabinet gets it’s way. - caucus secrecy
- Once caucus comes to a decision (usually cabinets way), the party whips all gov. MP’s into supporting that policy (party discipline).
- policy put into a draft bill (may already be in this form)
- bill introduced to Parliament & may now be passed into law as a statute.
If no new statute is required, then what are the steps following step 5?
- not all policy proposals need to follow this formal bill-to-statute to become a law
- some changes can be implemented under the authority of an existing statute, these laws are called regulations (orders-in-council of the cabinet).
- regulations involve only cabinet and civil servants. Gov. party caucus and parliament have limited oversight if any.. Regulations have less media attention
Astute interest groups?
often aware of & may be involved informally in changes to regulations.
What are the steps once the bill is brought to Parliament?
- Cabinet approves policy, then approves draft bill (done previously)
- 1st reading (billed introduced by minister in commons) - Money bills MUST be introduced in commons
- 2nd reading (debate & vote on principle of bill
- committee stage - a commons Ctee of MP’s from all parties analyzes bill in detail (outside persons may address Ctee).
- Report stage: bill sent back to entire commons for more debate (amendments - changes not seen as a good thing).
- 3rd reading: final vote in commons - if passed then sent to Senate.
- Senate: must pass identical bill for it to become statute. Senate changes are usually minor if any (can have a couple readings) - can defeat bill but uncommon.
- Royal Assent: Gov. - Gen’s approval; formality. Bill is now a statute or act (becomes a new law).
What is a regulation?
It is a law where changes are being made under the authority of an existing statute.
