November/December 2017 Flashcards
Political Party
- a formal organization of politically-minded citizens act run candidates in election sunder a common label in an attempt to win governmetn and shape public policy and laws
Elite political party
- close,d upper class, organizing votes within the legislature
Mass political party
- grassroots, reached out broader society, ideology
Catch all political party
- competitive, prioritizes the design of effect public policy and election strategies (most of the current parties)
Brokerage political party
- Canadian term for a regional catch all party - contain and address competing demands of different parts of the country
Left wing
- highest taxes, bigger role for government, social equality
Right wing
- lower taxes reliance on private sector, personal responsibility
Centrist
- middle ground, Canada’s natural governing party?
Star candidates
- high profile
- represent party publically
Party Insiders
- spend career in party
Local leaders
- well known in electoral district
Stopgap candidates
- used to run a full slate of candidates
The extra parliamentary wing
- party members formally applied into a party and paid membership fees
Electoral district association
- party organization within a constitution
National Party Convention
- elects party leader, votes on policies and establishes rules for candidates and members
Parliamentary WIng
- caucus consists of members of the party who holds a seat in the legislature
Official party status
- requires party to have minimum number of seats in teh legislature
Electoral formula
- how votes are translated into seats
Single-member plurality (SMP)
- electoral system whereby winner of a district needs just one vote more than the number amassed by the runner - up
Proportional representation (PR)
- electoral systems designed so that number of party representatives elected is proportionate to party’s share of the vote
Mixed-member proportional system (MMP)
- electoral system that combines geographic and partisan representation by providing extra seats to parties whose share of seats is lower than their share of the popular vote
Campaign Finance
- the direct cost to administer the voting process amount to over $200 million per campaign. Not including the ones spent by parties
Political contributions
- donations to a political candidate or group
Government subsidies
- traditionally came in three main forms: election spending rebates, tax credits, annual direct public funding
Canada is a vertical mosaic
- some groups are privileged or are higher in status than others, with the tapestry of Canadian multiculturalism
Symbolic representation
- political attachment to someone or something that is seen to epitomize what it means
Descriptive representation
- political attachment to someone viewed as sharing one’s background or social profile
Substantive representation
- political attachment to someone in a position to defend or promote one’s own interests
Formalistic representation
- political attachment to someone by virtue of that person’s status as a legitimately elected official
Democratic deficit
- a belief that political institutions fail to live up to the democratic standards and expectations of its citizens
Candidate quotas
- minimum requirements for members marginalized groups in candidate pool
Employment equity
- federal government policy requiring civil service managers to proactively consider employing members of the four traditionally underrepresented groups
Pay equity
- policy designed to eliminate gender-based discrimination in terms of how federally regulated employees are paid
Political Communication
- a selection of information that is framed in a certain way
mediated democracy
- media acts as a intermediary between the public and their political leaders, rather than people obtaining information for themselves directly
two way process
- frames discussions and reflects the public concerns
two types of political media
- mainstream/traditional
- digital/new
main stream media
- newspaper, radio and television outlets
party press
- early newspapers that relied heavily on government advertising
national newspapers
- as literacy rates increased, demand grew for mass distribution of non-partisan news
radio
- emerged alongside populist, demand grew for radio, western-protest parties
television
- ushered in the era of political image
press gallery
- each legislature has a press gallery comprised of accredited journalists who are assigned to cover government and legislative proceedings - granted special access to interact with public officials
fourth estate
- informal term for the media, implies that a free press is so vial to democracy that it is on par with the three branches of government
a policy window opens when three streams come together
- problem/issue stream
- policy
- political
Unintentional framing
- ideological biases that are unrecognized by a political actor, but have an important impact on how they view issues and communicate with others
Intentional framing
- skilled political communicators simplifying and making sense of complex matters and promoting that perspective to support their position
Infotainment
- ]political news and information delivered in an entertaining manner
Permanent campgain
- electioneering outside of an election period, especially by leveraging government resources
Propoganda
- one sided persuasive communication that communicates falsehoods by virtue of its selective exclusion of truths
newspeak
- a controlled language designed to limit freedom of thougha nd expression
doublespeak
- language that “sanitizes” or makes truth more palatable
comparative advertising
- contrasts the strengths of a party or candidate against the weakness of an opponent
political advertising
- promotes uplifting messages
negative political advertising
- denigrates an opponent and his or her poitics
attack advertising
- belittles someones personal life or physical characteristics rather than the persons poitics
interest groups
- a political organization that seeks to influence public policy without competing for election
institutionalized interest groups
- headed by political elites who have advanced the same core arguments for years
issue orientated interest groups
- loosely organized political organizations that focus on a core issue
lobbyist
- a lobbyist is a professional who is paid to provide strategic advise to clients and to provide access to decision makers in government
social movement
- a shared mindset among people seeking to change the public’s view and behavior about an issue
collective action problem/free riders
- the notion that people whose interests are promoted by a group will benefit from its interest whether to not they actively participate
slaktivisim
- actions taken by individuals to appear part of a social movement, but which have no direct impact on the fulfillment of its objectives
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP)
- an investigation launched to study the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in Canada in 1996
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2016
- examined the impact of the residential school system
Treaty federation
- system of governance recognizing the equal-order relationship between First Nations and the crown
Third order of government
- constitutionally recognized status for First Nations people, on par with the federal and provincial orders
citizens plus
- notion that aboriginal people ought to hold a special set of rights in addition to that conferred by Canadian citizenship
pubic policy
- plan or course of action chosen by a government to respond to an identified problem
policy instruemnts
- the tools used by government to meet their objectives - public education, financial incentives, guidelines or standards, and sanctions and laws
public administration
- the management and delivery of public policy by government
Thomas Hobbes
- theorized society would exist in a “state of nature” without government and would be “nasty, brutish, and short”
welfare state
- suite of government programs, services, and financial supports designed to assist the least fortunate in society
pluralism
- presence of diverse socio-economic groups participating in public affairs
merit principle
- notion that the most qualified candidates should be awarded a position, contract, or other financial benefit
patronage
- cultural practice that reflects an expectation among the supporters of a political party, its leader, and/or its candidates that they will receive something in return for their loyal service
agenda setting
- prioritizing policy issues
policy formulation
- exploring potential policy responses or instruments
decision-making
- choosing how to respond
policy implementation
- enacting the policy
policy evaluation
- monitoring and assessment of the policy
rational models of policy making
- assumes citizens and policy makers have clear goals and seek to achieve them
complexity
- the problem is difficult to define and does not fit neatly into governmetn departments
uncertaintly
- the solution is not clear and outcomes are difficult to predict
fragmentation
-many viewpoints the problem is politically controversial
financial administration
- ability of a government to make public policy decisions is highly dependent on its fiscal situation
treasury board
- cabinet committee tasked with reviewing and authorizing government revenue and expenditure policies
taxationj policy
- regulations, mechanisms, and rates set by government to generate revenues form people and businesses in its jurisdiction
direct taxation
- collection of taxes by government without using an intermediary
indirect taxation
- collection of taxes by intermediate body on behalf of government
entitlement programs
- as the welfare state has expanded, the federal government has created policies that entitle eligible citizens to receive financial assistance
insurance programs
- a large number of people pay into Canada’s insurance programs, but at any given time only a minority use it
a new nationalism was born in Canada, centered around 3 main goals
- adoption of a national anthem
- development of a distinctive national flag
- patriation of the constitution
middle power
- Canada’s status as an intermediary, rather than a leader in international affairs
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- NATO
- International military alliance of western nations
North American Air Defence (NORAD)
- a Canada - U.S. air defence agreement
emergency power
- ability of federal government to exercise extraordinary authority in a time of crisis
United Nations
- the world’s primary internation poiltical body
tariff
- a form of tax applied to imported goods and services