UNIT II MAIN IDEAS Flashcards
What is Government? Why do we need government?
A government is a group of people who provide services, leadership and protection.
Types of Government
Authoritarian- an authoritarian government comes to power by announcing themselves as leaders (dictatorship) and uses military power/force. There is little to no input from people when decisions are made. And to enforce decisions, they have secret police to eliminate opposition and use intimidation to influence people.
Democratic: a democratic government comes to power by individuals voting in elections. Decisions are typically made based on the will of the people and are enforced by public announcements, police enforcement or influenced by ads.
Egalitarian: an egalitarian government doesn’t come to power because no single person is in power. A decision is made by people discussing an issue until everyone has agreed on a resolution. These decisions are enforced by social stability.
Democracy: Elements
Democratic decisions are made for the good of most people, most of the time.
Democracy emphasizes legal and political equality
Democracy protects majority.
Democracy encourages peace, respect and tolerance in citizens.
Democracy: Obstacles
Ethnic differences and conflict
A large gap between rich and poor
Low literacy rate
Constitution: Parts
The Canadian government has a set of rules that determine the parts and powers of the government, this is called a constitution. Canada’s constitution consists of the BNA Act of 1867 (sets out parts, power and function of the 3 levels of government), the Charter of rights and Freedom (states the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizens) and the Amending formula (If changes are to be made, 7/10 provinces must agree and the 7 provinces’ population must be equal to ½ if Canada’s population).
Constitution
The government has 3 branches. The executive (power to minister country and carry out laws), legislative (power to create laws) and judicial (power to decide of law has been broken and the punishment).
Levels of Government: Federal, Provincial, Municipal & responsibilities
Federal responsibilities are foreign trade and relations, aboriginal peoples, defence, postal service, immigration, communications, unemployment, criminal law and currency. These services are made possible by collecting GST tax and excise taxes. Provincial responsibilities are property and civil rights, marriage licences, alcohol consumption, natural resources and environment, hospitals, health and welfare, education, driver education and licensing, motor vehicle operation and licensing and provincial highways. They provide these services by collecting PST tax and sin taxes. Municipal responsibilities are police and fire departments, street and roads, water and sewage, transit, garbage and recycling, libraries, recreation and local programs. Paid by property taxes and equalization payments.
Levels of Government: Branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial chart)
Executive- Queen, Prime Minister, Cabinet & Public Service
Executives have executive power and administrate the country. The queen appoints a governor general every 5 years with the advice of the PM. The PM appoints senators, member of cabinet and other senior positions. The PM also organizes government, represents Canada abroad and has the strongest voice in parliament. The cabinet oversee a government department assigned to them by the PM. They publicly support everything the PM says. And public services are employees that work to turn the government policies into action. Legislative Branch- House of Commons and the Senate. The HoC is the most powerful part of the legislative branch. There are 308 members (distributed among the province based on population) who meet to introduce and discuss bills. They debate on government policies and deal with concerns of the bill. The Senate are the sober, second thought. They go over a passed bill just like the HoC. They can either amend or reject. Other than that, they investigate important national concerns such as poverty, etc. Judicial Branch- Supreme Court. Power to interpret law, decide if it has been violated and the punishment. The highest and most powerful court. It is the last stop and the court of last appeal. Judges are appointed by the governor general with the advice of the PM.
Influencing Government: Elections
Canada has representative democracy, where citizens vote for an elected official from a political party to act on their behalf. Governor general or lieutenant governor calls elections > chief electoral officer mobilizes workers (voting locations reserved, notices mailed to voter, ballot boxes sent to ridings) > election campaign begins (advertising, public appearance, debates) > election day (voters go to polling station and vote, votes counted by election officials) > election results announced > winning candidates become members of HoC
Influencing Government: Political Parties
Right (Conservative); Manages income, traditional, family, military
Center (Liberal); Concerned with equality and rights, moderate and flexible
Left (NDP); socially concern, not bound by tradition, dislikes status quo
Influencing Government: Special Interest Groups
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Identify the PM, GG, P, LG, M
PM: Stephen Harper, GG: David Johnson, P: Greg Selinger, LG: Philip S. Lee, M: Sam Katz
Rights and Responsibilities of Canadian Citizens
Rights: Outlined in the Charter of Rights 7 Freedom. Includes domestic rights like the right to vote and run for candidate, and mobility rights.
Responsibility: To uphold Canadian values(like pluralism), to elect govn’t and to serve as a jury member
Charter of Rights and Freedom Limit
Limitation: Rights are not absolute because there are reasonable limits. The government must balance the rights of all in society. For example; you have the freedom of thought and expression but you’re rights are immediately cancelled out when your thoughts are spreading hate propaganda.
Charter of Rights and Freedom: sections
Fundamental Freedoms
-Freedom of conscience and religion
-Freedom of thought and expression
-Freedom of peaceful assembly and association
Democratic Rights
-Right to vote
-Right to run for office
Mobility Rights
-Right to move in and out of country; between provinces
Legal Rights
-Right to life, liberty, security of person
-Right to be from arbitrary imprisonment
-Right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment
-Right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure
Equality Rights
-Right to be equal (regardless of gender, ethnic group, religion)
>before the law; same access to courts and administrators
>under the law; same outcome/result for a ???
Minority Language Rights
-guarantees the language minority in any province can have their children educated in own language
