POLI100 Final Flashcards
Cadre parties versus mass parties
Cadre parties and mass parties are two types of political parties. Cadre parties were created in the second half of the nineteenth century. They are loosely organized and are made up of members of legislature with the support of the local “nobles”. Their main concern is electing members of their party into government and not about forming strong connections with those outside of their membership. Examples of cadre parties are Canadian Liberals and Conservatives.
Mass parties were created near the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. They are parties that gather support through due paying membership and feature a strong organization outside of their legislature. Mass parties were formed as a result of labour and socialist parties wanting everyone to have the right to vote. Mass parties didn’t have the benefit of nobles so their membership was bigger in order to meet the demands of the working class.
Checks and balances
A feature of the separation of powers style of government that ensures that since each branch under this style of government are independent, the ambition of each sector (President, congress, and Judicial branch) to gain power would “check and balance” each other out so that one branch doesn’t have more power than another.
Devolution
When countries with unitary government give legislative power and administrative responsibilities to an area in their country. The UK established legislatures in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland but not England. Devolution dose not give absolute power (sovereignty) to these legislatures, and can take power away virtually whenever they want. This happened when Northern Ireland attempted to pass a bill the UK did not agree with. Devolution has led to greater regional needs being met.
Governor General
The person in Canada who is appointed executive power by the monarch and carries out the duties and responsibilities of the monarchy. The Governor General is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada and usually serves for five years. Their duty includes making sure government is always in place and chooses the leader of the party with the majority of the seats in the House of Commons. The Governor General must approve all legislation and executive decisions recommended by the Prime Minister. The Governor General does have the autonomy to dissolve parliament which results in a new election or the ability to prorogue parliament which ends the parliamentary session.
Fusion of powers versus separation of powers
Fusion of powers is a main feature of a parliamentary system of government. It requires that the Prime Minister and ministers must have a seat in Parliament. This is to ensure that the executive branch is drawn from the legislative branch. An example of a country that uses fusion of power is Canada. Separation of power is feature of a presidential system. It ensures that the President, Congress, and the Senate, all hold separate power from each other. In order to ensure that one part of the Presidential system doesn’t overpower another, a system of checks and balances are used to make sure that by each branch fighting for more power, a certain competitive game will be played to keep all in relatively equal power. An example is the US. The main difference between the two is that one is more cooperative and one is more competitive.
Institutionalized interest groups versus issue-oriented issue groups
Institutionalized interest groups are formal organizations that have been around for a long period of time. I.e. the Canadian Bankers Association. Issue-oriented groups are interest groups that form around tackling a certain issue and disband after the issue has been resolved. I.e. Fight the HST. The difference between these groups are their financial backing, objectives, and tactics. Institutionalized interest groups tend to have access to decision making individuals and can use power to conduct change. Issue-oriented groups tend to have less financial power and are more likely to use displays and protests to get their message across.
Judicial Review
Judicial review is the authority of the courts to strike down legislation or government action that the courts deem unconstitutional. There are two types of judicial review, the first is Abstract: When elected officials request a ruling on the constitutionality of a bill or law that was passed by the legislature. The second is concrete: When the court considers a case that questions the constitutionality of a law already in place. Judicial review was made important in Canada after the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was included in CA1982. In North America, judicial review is carried out by the Supreme Court. While in many European countries including Germany, Austria, and France, they have special courts set up to conduct judicial review.
Multi-party systems
Multi-party systems are the most popular democratic party system. They feature at least three parties that hold significant legislative representation. A two-party plus system is one like the Canadian system where. there is two parties that hold a majority of the seats with one smaller party who still has enough power to sway votes towards one of the predominant two. In a moderate multi-party, there are three to five significant parties with two leading parties. Germany is a great example of this. Lastly, is a fragmented multi-party system in which there are at least five significant parties but none hold a majority of the seats. An example is Italy.
President
The President is elected indirectly through the electoral college. The President is the head of state and head of government and combines the role of formal executive and political executive. The President carries out ceremonial functions like the state of the union and carries out political functions like appointing cabinet minsters and Supreme Court judges. The Presidents main duty is to set domestic policy priority and to handle foreign affairs. The current President of the USA is Joe Biden.
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is the head of government in a parliamentary system. The Prime Minister governs but does not reign. They are the most powerful person in Canadian government and the head of the party which holds the most seats in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister creates the formation of their cabinet and determines the government’s main operations and domestic policy. The Prime Minister has the power to advise the Governor General on when to start and end each Parliamentary session
Selection of party leaders (Canada)
The selection of who shall lead a specific political party in Canada, has shifted over the years. A parties caucus used to decide who would lead the party. Until 1919, that’s how the Liberal party would elect their leader, and until 1927, the Conservative party operated the same way. Starting in 1990s, parties wished to include more members of their party so they began using the OMOV system (One member one vote). Examples of party leaders in Canada include Jagmeet Singh and Elisabeth May.
Self interest groups versus public interest groups
Self interest groups seek to pursue the goals of a specific groups members. Self interest groups typically involve business groups or union groups. Union groups may seek to improve the working conditions of their union workers and business groups may aim to use politics in order to gain more profit. Public interest groups aim to advance goals in order to benefit the general community. Environmental groups are an example of public interest groups since they seek to benefit the planet so that all may reap the benefits.
Old and new social movements
Social groups are groups of people who come together in order to seek societal, political, or cultural change outside of political institutions. Old social movements happened in the 19th century and include issues like suffrage and labour movements. New social movements involve the civil rights movement in the USA, Indigenous, and LGBTQ2 movements that have happened since the 1960s.
Strict versus loose party discipline
Party discipline is the basic operating principle in HoC. It means that members of political parties will generally vote together in order to ensure party strength. Strict party discipline implies that members absolutely will vote with their party lest they face consequences for going against the caucus. Loose party discipline serves as a more relaxed discipline where members may vote how they please. Canada is famous for its high level of party discipline.
Unitary system verus federal system
A unitary system of government is when local and regional government are under the national government who are the ultimate decision makers for the entire province as. outlined in the constitution. France is a country that employs unitary government. Benefits to this system include a clear government responsibility, all areas of the country have the same public services, and less duplication of services. A federal system of government is when big decision making is shared between national and subnational levels as outlined in the constitution. For example, the provincial government has significant power against the federal government in Canada, the federal government doesn’t directly control the energy sector in BC. The pros to this system are greater responsiveness to a diverse local population needs and less concentration of power. Federal systems tend to be used in countries with greater land mass like Canada or the US, while unitary systems tend to be found in smaller countries like Japan.
