QUIZ 1- TERMS Flashcards
political party
An organization designed to get its candidates
elected to Parliament. Political parties are the primary connection between voters and Parliament.
House of Commons
The lower branch of Parliament where there
are 338 members who are elected
by the people.
Parliament
The legislative branch of government in Canada,
consisting of the House of Commons, the Senate, and the Crown.
Senate
The upper chamber of Parliament where there are 105
members who are appointed until age 75 by the Crown on the advice of the prime minister.
governor general
The Queen’s representative in Canada, and
the formal head of the executive branch of government.
confidence
The ability of the government to command majority
support in Parliament; it is the first rule of responsible government.
rule of law
The principle that governments not only make the
law but must follow the law as well. It is one of the hallmarks of a free society.
statutory laws
the laws made by Parliament.
conventions
Unwritten rules of the Canadian political system.
Many conventions were inherited from Great Britain’s system of responsible government in 1867 while other conventions have emerged in Canada over time
through political practice.
rules of thumb
Non-binding, informal unwritten rules. Some
rules of thumb may emerge as conventions or become enshrined in law over time.
institutional approach
One type
of approach used in the study of
politics that analyzes the rules of
the game and their effects on the
political system.
totalitarian regimes
Govern-ments that maintain total control
over the societies they govern.
They are typically led by a single
dictator.
responsible government
The Canadian system of government
(inherited from Great Britain) in
which ministers are responsible to
Parliament and the Crown.
federalism
A system of govern-
ment with two constitutionally
entrenched orders of government.
One government is responsible for
matters pertaining to the entire
country, and the other order of
government provides a range of
services at a more local level. In
Canada, the two orders of govern-
ment are the federal government
in Ottawa and the 10 provinces.
(The territories are separate
entities under the authority of the
federal government.)
bicameral legislature
A legislature that has two chambers.
The Parliament of Canada is a
bicameral legislature: the House
of Commons is the elected lower
chamber, and the Senate is the
appointed upper chamber.
sovereign
“supremely powerful”
intergovernmental relations
The interaction between the different governments in a federation, especially between the federal
government and the provinces, but also between provinces and municipalities, Aboriginal peoples
and governments of all levels, and even the relationships across the border with state governments.
Indian Act
Federal legislation
that defines the legal status of
“Indian” peoples in Canada and
regulates the management of
“Indian” lands and reserves.
ideologies
Specific bundles of
ideas about politics and the good
life, such as liberalism, conserva-
tism, and socialism. Ideologies
help people explain political
phenomena, they allow people to
evaluate good and bad, and they
equip people with a program or
agenda for political action.
political culture
the sum total
of political beliefs in a country. It
includes the attitudes, beliefs, and
values that underpin the political
system.
neo-liberals or libertarians
Modern adherents of classical
liberalism.
cleavages
The enduring political
divisions in a country, such as
language, region, urban-rural,
gender, race, and class, among
others.
identity politics
A political
orientation that is driven by one’s
identification with one’s language,
race, religion, gender, nation,
sexual orientation, or some other
aspect of the group one identifies
with. Identity politics is often asso-
ciated with groups seeking to free
themselves from discrimination
by dominant groups in Canadian
society.
crosscutting cleavages
When a second cleavage serves to create
an alliance across the primary
cleavage. The principal cleavage
in Canada has historically been
language: French and English. But
the English-speaking community
is further divided between Prot-
estants and Catholics. On some
issues, English-speaking Catholics
may have more in common with
French-speaking Catholics than
they do with English-speaking
Protestants and this reduces the
salience of the linguistic division.
Quiet Revolution
The transfor-
mation of Quebec from a deeply
conservative society to a progres-
sively liberal society in the 1960s.
revenge of the cradle
A church-fostered policy known as la
revanche des berceaux. The church
encouraged women to have lots of
babies to prevent the assimilation
of the French by the English.
nationalism
The passion some
individuals display for their nation.
It properly refers to an identifiable
group of people rather than a
country; love of country is properly
known as patriotism. In Canada,
many people in Quebec believe
that Quebec is a separate nation.
sovereignists
Quebecers
who want Quebec to become a
sovereign state, independent of
Canada.
federalists
Quebecers who
are not in favour of separation.
They are committed to Canada,
although many of them want to
see changes to the way the federa-
tion is governed.
populism
A theory that extends
the notion of democracy beyond
the election of the government.
It is the belief that major political
decisions should be made by the
people. Populism can be left-wing
or right-wing, and it is particularly
prevalent in Western Canada.
electoral districts
The geographical constituencies in which
Members of Parliament are elected
in Canada’s single-member
plurality electoral system. There
are currently 338 electoral districts
in Canada, each with more or less
comparable populations.
riding
Another term for electoral
district or constituency in Canada’s
single-member plurality electoral
system. The term is uniquely
Canadian.
Western alienation
the disconnection many Canadians in
Western provinces feel to the rest
of Canada, and the belief that the
Government of Canada tends to
make policies for the benefit of the
majority in Central Canada to the
detriment of the West.
gender gap
The differing support political parties receive from
women and men.
independent candidates
Individuals running for election to the
House of Commons who are not
affiliated with any political party.
There are many independent
candidates in each election, but it
is unusual for an independent candidate to win a seat in Parliament.
party system
The set of parties
active in the political system at any
one time. The party system may
refer to only the dominant parties
in the system or only the parties
that elect candidates to Parliament
or all of the parties, depending on
the context.
fringe parties
Political parties
that garner only a small percent-
age of the overall vote. However,
they play an important role in
Canadian politics because they
often raise issues that major
parties choose to ignore and thus
provide citizens with more options
to participate in the political
system.
Tory syndrome
The propensity of the Conservative Party to
engage in internal conflicts over
leadership, especially after losing
elections.
party discipline
The ability of
parties to work together as a
team for common purposes, such
as winning elections or passing
legislation in Parliament.
caucus
All the members of a
political party elected to Parlia-
ment. For the Conservative Party it
also includes members appointed
to the Senate. Justin Trudeau
removed Liberal senators from the
caucus in 2014, while the other
parties do not have any members
in the Senate.
political brand
A marketing
strategy designed to project a
distinct image of a political party
and its leader with the goal of
creating an emotional connection
to voters.
brokerage parties
Parties that are able to appeal to the different
regions of Canada, especially
the two major linguistic groups.
Brokerage parties tend to be ideo-
logically pragmatic, following the
wishes of the voters rather than
standing on a set of predetermined principles.
missionary parties
parties that are strongly committed to their
political principles, and they are
generally not willing to compro-
mise their principles for electoral
advantage. They stand in contrast
to pragmatic brokerage parties.
single issue parties
Parties that
are preoccupied with only one
issue.
median voter theorem
The theory that the outcome of the
election will be determined by the
preferences of voters in the middle
of the political spectrum—which
is the largest group of voters.
wedge politics
When a political
party chooses to take one side of
a particular “hot button” issue to
attract more votes and divide the
remaining electorate among the
opposing parties.
dog whistling
A political message that sounds innocent to the
general population but resonates
with a target group of voters, typi-
cally by appealing to longstanding
prejudices.
electoral systems
The rules by
which voter preferences are trans-
lated into seats in the legislature.
single-member plurality (SMP)
electoral system
An electoral system that provides for geo-
graphic representation in the
legislature. The country is divided
into geographic constituencies
with approximately equal popu-
lations. A number of candidates
will contest the election in each
constituency, and the candidate
with the most votes is elected
to the legislature. This electoral
system is very easy to use, but the
distribution of seats in the legisla-
ture is not always proportional to
a party’s share of the vote in the
election.
proportional representation
(PR) electoral system
An electoral system that ensures the dis-
tribution of seats in the legislature
is proportional to a party’s share of
the vote in the election.
first past the post
The informal
name for the single-member
plurality electoral system.
safe seats
Ridings that political
parties can generally count on
winning in the election.
swing ridings
Ridings with a
long history of electing candidates
from different parties.
bellwether ridings
Ridings with
a unique habit of electing a candi-
date to Parliament who belongs to
the winning party.
representative sample
A subset
of the population that accurately
reflects the entire population.
Duverger’s law
theory of
political science that stipulates the
single-member plurality electoral
system will result in a party system
with two strong parties and most
likely only two parties.
popular vote
The total number
of votes received by a political
party across all constituencies
divided by the number of votes
cast in the election and multi-
plied by 100. It is expressed as
a percentage of the vote. This
information is irrelevant to the
single-member plurality system
used in Canada, but it is used by
the media to judge the perfor-
mance of the political parties in
the election.
coalition governments
governments that are composed of two
or more political parties.
wasted vote
A vote that does not
contribute to a candidate getting
elected, either because the can-
didate had a surplus of votes (i.e.,
won by a large margin), or had no
chance of being elected because
he or she was running in a safe
seat for another party or with a
fringe party.
strategic voting
When a person
votes for his or her second or third
preference of party or candidate
in an attempt to prevent the least
favourite candidate or party from
winning the seat. For example,
a supporter of the Green Party
might vote for a Liberal to prevent
the Conservative from winning, or
a Conservative supporter might
vote for the NDP to prevent a
Liberal from being elected.
proportional representation
(PR) electoral systems
Electoral
systems that distribute seats in
the legislature, proportional to a
party’s share of the popular vote.
If a party wins 20 percent of the
vote, it is allocated 20 percent of
the seats in the legislature. There
are a number of different types of
proportional representation elec-
toral systems, including the simple
list, mixed member proportional,
and the single transferable vote.
systemic discrimination
A form
of discrimination produced by
the operational logic of a system
rather than individual intentions.
list system
The simplest and
purest form of all the proportional
representation electoral systems.
Each party produces a list of
candidates equal to the number of
seats in the government, with the
leader ranked first and the most
junior candidate last. On election
day, citizens would vote for the
party of their choice. Seats in the
government are allocated to each
party proportional to its share of
the popular vote.
single transferable vote (STV)
electoral system
the electoral system used in Ireland and Malta.
With STV, the country is divided
into a number of geographic
constituencies in which multi-
ple candidates will be elected.
Constituencies with relatively
small populations might only
elect two candidates, but very
large constituencies might elect
as many as six candidates. Voters
have the opportunity to rank the
candidates according to their pref-
erences. Candidates are elected
according to a complex electoral
quotient.
mixed member proportional
(MMP) electoral system
An electoral system that combines
the single-member plurality
electoral system with the simple
list electoral system. Each person
votes for a candidate to represent
the constituency he or she lives in
and for a political party with its list
of candidates. Votes for the list are
used to iron out the disproportion-
alities caused by the election of
candidates through the first-past-
the-post system.
executive
The branch of
government responsible for the
execution of policy.
responsible government
The
Canadian system of govern-
ment—inherited from Great
Britain—in which ministers are
responsible to Parliament and the
Crown.
head of state
The official rep-
resentative of the nation that is
vested with all executive authority.
The Queen is Canada’s head of
state.
Crown
Refers to the entirety of
the Canadian state. For example,
property owned by the Gov-
ernment of Canada is Crown
property and government-owned
businesses are called Crown
corporations.
governor general
The Queen’s
representative in Canada, and
formally the head of the of executive branch of government
lieutenant governors
The
Queen’s representatives in each
province.
Queen’s Privy Council for
Canada
A largely ceremonial
body that advises the Queen on
matters of state related to Canada.
It is made up of current and
former cabinet ministers and other
prominent Canadians. People are
appointed to the council by the
governor general on the advice of
the prime minister. It is a lifetime
appointment, but only current
members of the cabinet are enti-
tled to advise the Crown directly.
