Final POLI 321

Question 1

Origins of Responsible Government

Before Responsible Government

Answer 1

• Great Britain transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy, no written constitution. based on tradition and precedent.
• Montesquieu and John Locke: separation of powers
• Crown allowed itself to be constrained over time. democratization of crown’s absolute power.
• The colonial government: liberty protected by dividing power, legislatures were elected and the executives were governors appointment by the imperial government.
• Before responsible government, there was no link between the population of the United Canada in the House of Assembly and the executive and legislature appointed by the Crown.
• Governors and executive controlled by Family Compact/Chateau Clique. Armed rebellions in 1837 because programs were not being implemented. sought RG
• Legislative bodies but no accountability
• Representation but not representative

Question 2

Responsible Government Defined

When/How was it adopted

Answer 2

-Executive is responsible for its actions to a democratically elected legislative body
-Responsible government is executive accountability, must maintain approval of the elected house
-Formally exec power vested in crown but conventions modify this formality—> powers to PM and Cabinet.
Brings exec power under legislative control
-Exec indirectly responsible to the people, not elected by people directly
-RG = Cabinet Government: fuses legislative and exec in cabinet that is accountable to assembly of the people’s elected rep’s
-Durham Report 1/3 adopted, responsible government comes later
-1848 in Nova Scotia, Upper and Lower Canada 1849, Adopted in to the BNA Act 1867

Question 3

Constitutional Conventions of Responsible Government
List
How Enforced

Answer 3

Politically enforced, cannot be legally enforced.
-We know that constitutional conventions are constitutional because of the BNA Act 1867 preamble which states that Canada will have a constitution similar in principle to that of the UK. How conventions are quasi-codified

1) Crown only acts on advice of its ministers
- Crown does what it is commanded to do by the ministers

2) Crown appoints ministers from the legislatures
MP’s from House of Commons of MLA’s Legislative Assembly. Facilitates accountability, some flexibility: can be a senator or a citizen that needs to run for a seat as soon as possible

3) Ministerial Collective Responsibility
Act as a team with the PM as the first minister. Share and support other minister. Coequal ministers cannot give different advice to Crown, Crown merely listens to commands, cannot choose what it listens to. Need ONE advice. Ex) Michael Chong and Harper. Chong resigns because he cannot support the QC as a distinct nation motion brought by Harper without telling him.

4) Crown appoints ministers who possess and maintain the confidence of the House (or majority of it)
- Confidence is what makes it democratic
- Lagasse: confidence - confirmation not control

5) If house expresses no confidence, responsible government has broken down.
- vote of non-confidence or failure in passing the budget or other major bill. Either an election or a new ministry.

Question 4

MC Question: Video in Class showing…?

Answer 4

-Joe Clark being defeated on a vote of non confidence

Question 5

Lagasse Reading

Answer 5

• Crown equalized relations between the federal and provincial government and treaties have shaped governments obligation to First Nations
• Responsible government brought exec under control democratically but has enhanced the power of the PM
• Regalisation: centralization of power in the PM. Growing stature of party leadership. PM in control of key royal prerogatives which are legal authorities vested in the Crown recognized by common law. PM final say and final accountability. Crown is the vehicle by which execs command parliament. PM and Presidents converging because both becoming more monarchical.
• Parliament = coequal Queen, Senate, House of Commons
• Caretaker Convention: caretaker convention: sitting PM stays on while campaigning because you need someone responsible during election time just in case.
• Supposed to exercise restraint during this period. Remain in office till resign or dismissed by Crown. Ends when election results are clear and a new PM/government is sworn in.

Question 6

What Can the Crown Do

Answer 6

• Technically the PM’s powers. PM request Crown to
• Summon, prorogue and/or dissolve parliament
• Bill spends money you need “Royal Reccomendation
• Legislation initiated by ministers
• Appointing senators
• Ministerial appointments
• No bill becomes law without royal assent

Question 7

MC Question: How Do We Elect People

Answer 7

• We elect Parliaments not governments. 338 elections in constituencies to elect MP’s. Formation of government operates through constitutional conventions.
• Most seats gets to form government and leader of that party gets to select ministers.

Question 8

Selecting or Forming Government

Answer 8

• Crown (LG or GG) chooses government, acts on advice of the person in best position to select, Leader of the party with the best change of getting confidence, party with the most seats. If roughly equal seats, minority or coalition options
• Government remains until PM resigns or loses confidence or has no prospect of getting confidence in a new house. EX) Kim Campbell wins PC leadership but loses election in her riding. still PM. Has to resign because Jean Chretien has a majority

Question 9

Majority v.s Minority

Answer 9

• Majority: over half the seats in the House. 169 but technically 170 because the speaker of the house comes form the party with the most seats and they are not allowed to vote
• Party discipline guarantees confidence automatically
• Not unchecked power, still need to maintain the caucus support.
• Minority: no one has over 169 seats, PM can meet house and try to get confidence. Get support from other parties to remain in power. Harper spent most of his time in office under minority government. Usually short lived in Canada

Question 10

Logic of RG at Work

Answer 10

• Regime is like an ecosystem
• Election timing not necessarily fixed because responsible government means an election can happen at any time when confidence is lost
• PM is head of GOVERNMENT, Queen is head of STATE

Question 11

Charter and Regime

Answer 11

• Charter is the closest thing to a fifth regime principle that we have
• Most significant political or institutional development in the last 35 years because sets out the principles of liberty and equality. Rights not self-enforced need to be worked out be institutions
• Tensions between democracy and fundamental rights (liberty)

Question 12

Statutory Bill of Rights

Comparison to CCRF

Answer 12

• 1960 Diefenbaker introduced a Bill of Rights
• Act of parliament that had no constitutional status
• Applied only to the federal government, did not affect provinces
• Courts did not make a lot og use of the bill of rights
• CCRF 1982 constitutionally entrenched, applies to both levels of government S.32, has constitutional supremacy S.52, sets out the availability of remedies S.24 and S.52 and can strike down any government law that is inconsistent with it

Question 13

Canadian Rights Protection in the Context of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Pre-Charter Rights

Answer 13

• Did not give us rights, we did not get rights as Canadians in 1982
• Pre-Charter Rights: Quebec Act 1774 religion and language rights, the debated when Canada was being founded, Ajenstat focus on the founding fathers debating the philosophies of John Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau. Founding fathers obsessed with rights, BNA Act 1967 minority language and education rights.
• Parliament as the protector of rights, documents do not guarantee rights, by themselves they are mere parchments. Soviets Union had a bill of rights
• Rights protected without Charter through the Parliament and Responsible Government, Federalism and the Division of Powers, Elections and the Crown
• Charter facilitates JUDICIAL rights protection

Question 14

Two Most Prominent Mechanisms in the Charter

Answer 14

• Section 1: reasonable limits clause.

- Section 33: not withstanding clause

Question 15

MC Question: How many times has the federal government used Section 33

Answer 15

• Federal parliament has never used S.33

- Used 16 times by the provinces

Question 16

Section 33

Answer 16

• Section 33: notwithstanding clause
• Makes legislation immune to judicial review but compromises the efficacy of the Charter
• To protest, Rene Levesque all QC legislation notwithstanding as a means of showing disapproval.
• Invoking Section 33: applies to Section 2 fundamental freedoms and Section Legal Rights 7-14, 15 Equality. Legislature must make an explicit declaration through legislation (usually in the preamble), Legislation must explicitly state which laws are to operate notwithstanding. Can be preemptive or pass it again after struck down.
• Neo-reservation and neo-disallowance
• Included because the premiers were worried that they would lose their jurisdiction. Also worried about the fact that SCC judges are federally elected.
• Section is not anti-charter or anti-rights it is anti-courts
• PC Manitoba: Sterling Lyon FOR, judges creating rights
• NDP Saskatchewan: Allan Blakeney, S.33 foreign to constitutional tradition and practice.

Question 17

Peter Russell- Political Purposes of CCRF

Answer 17

• Foremost scholar on post-Charter law and politics
• Predictive
• CCRF unify us through the judicialization of our regime.
• Not as a symbol of unity, not in the way the proponents said it was. It will unify through judicial review, through debates that transcend national cleavages. SCC at the top of the hierarchy, setting national standards for provincial law. Controversial issues dissolve regional identity. Overcome QC nationalism because issues are not regarding bilingualism but will have more economic concerns
• Section 33 won’t be used frequently
• Judge appointment process will come increasingly in to question
• Interpretive finality, questions of justice transformed in to technical legal questions
• Rights protection deceptively simple idea. Implies that you can have all the rights or no rights, not zero sum. Core v.s periphery rights. Core: universal values of liberal democracy, political freedom, religious toleration, due process.
• No serious debate about the minimum protection for core rights. Debates occur at the periphery. ex) Free Speech. How we limit periphery rights is the real question
• 1st level: created by legislators
• 2nd level: judicial review (difficult to change).

Question 18

Peter Russell: Impact of Charter

FINAL EXAM Q

Answer 18

• Judicializes politics: infuses political realm with judicial decisions. judges have the final say on the legality of laws passed by the legislator
• Politicizes the Judiciary: judicial realm infused with political considerations

Question 19

Section 1

Answer 19

• Guarantees and constrains. Places reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
• Limits are acceptable: when prescribed by law and justified in a free and democratic society.
• Does the law infringe on the Charter on its face (prima facie), if no then ends, if yes then proceed to a section analysis.

Question 20

Defining a Reasonable Limit for Section 1 Charter Challenge

Answer 20

• R v. Oakes 1986
• Reverse onus provision in the Narcotic Control Act, argued that it was a violation of S. 11 (d) presumption of innocence. Onus on individual to prove possession with no intent to traffic
• Pressing and substantial, government objective pressing and substantial according to the values of a free and democratic society. If no, it is an unreasonable infringement. If yes:
• Proportionality. Is there a rational connection between the limit and the objective, minimal impairment MOST IMPORTANT impairs the right as minimally as possible. Often fail here. Cost benefit, does the benefit outweigh the seriousness of the infringement. (has only failed at this point once, often times it skates through this one if it passes the other two)

Question 21

QC v. Ford

Answer 21

• 1988
• Arose out of Bill 101: made French the exclusive language of commercial signs, official languages commissioner fined Ford for violating the Charter
• Ford challenged the law under Section 2 freedom of expression
• Law violated the charter and the court found the right to communicate in one’s own language essential to personal identity. Ruled unconstitutional
• QC used Section 33 in response

Question 22

Remedies in the Charter

Answer 22

• S.24: such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just under the circumstances
• S.52: remedy is that any law inconsistent is of no force or effect. no longer has the authority to act in the way the law provided. Up to parliament to decide if and how to amend legislation to make it consistent with the Charter. Court can’t render the law inoperative
• S.24 Means a variety of remedies: court can strike down legislation law becomes void, can add the right words to solve the problem like in Vriend, strike down the law with a delayed effect Carter v. Canada assisted suicide, exclude evidence if collected in a manner that violated Charter rights.

Question 23

Opposition to the Charter

Answer 23

• Manitoba premier Lyon, attacked because departure from parliamentary sovereignty
• Saskatchewan: Allen Blakeney: use individual rights against important collective rights
• Transfer of political power to the judiciary, unelected, unaccountable and undemocratic.

Question 24

What is the Executive Branch

Answer 24

• provides leadership and direction to the government.
• enforces law/legislation
• administers government departments
• Formal: role of crown GG/LG. Political: PM and Cabinet exercise and advise the formal component. Permanent bureaucracy: civil service. formally serve at pleasure of executive but don’t change when the government changes

Question 25

Formal Portion of the Executive Branch

Answer 25

-Holds power formally, but it is delegated to offices and bodies such as the PM and cabinet -S.9 executive power vested in the queen. S.17 parliament consists of the Queen, senate, and the House of Commons *recall Lagasse reading -Queen passes formal power, does not exercise power on their own. -Assent is a convention, never withheld -Governor General is the monarch's representative in Canada -S.10 monarch will have rep in Canada -Normally serves 5-10 years -Used to be British people, in 1952 started appointing Canadians. -Have vast power via convention but exercised by others -GG can refuse to act on advice: Tupper after losing the 1896 election GG = safety valve -GG head of state, commander of the armed forces, guardian of responsible government. has reserve power to ignore advice of PM, can fire PM or dissolve/open parliament

Question 26

Example of GG Going Against Advice of PM

Answer 26

- King Byng Thyng - 1920's, Mackenzie King (longest serving PM), had a minority government scandal right after an election, knew he would be defeated in the upcoming vote of confidence, King tried to avoid meeting the house by dissolution one day before election. Governor General Byng exercised his reserve power and calls an election, King wins majority and calls Byng an imperialist. Byng looks like a huge dork - GG strengthens democracy but has become political.

Question 27

Current GG

Answer 27

- Julia Payette in hot water after making condescending remarks regarding religion, climate change and astrology. - Equated people of faith with climate change deniers: called them dum dums - Allowed herself to become politicized, lose virtues of GG if the politicization becomes to great.

Question 28

Political Portion of the Executive

Answer 28

- PM and Cabinet - Cabinet members stay for life but only current ones can advise - Work through committees, Super committee is the Priorities and Planning chaired by the PM - Real power in Canadian politics is exercised by the Cabinet. PM decides when consensus is reached no formal voting. - Summon and dissolve parliament - Grant pardons - Appoint judges, senators, royal commision - Introduce money bills - Conduct international affairs - Create regulations - Mange and administer government of Canada

Question 29

Central Characteristics of Cabinet Government

Answer 29

1. Very powerful 2. Highly secretive due to collective responsibility. GG cannot take contradictory advice 3. By international standards, unusually large and selected by the PM. (disperses individual ministerial power, competence suffers to some degree). Large due to regional distinctions 4. Single party creatures 5. Drawn nearly exclusively from elected legislators 6. PM dominates 7. Highly institutionalize and acts in a precises routine

Question 30

Selecting a Government

Answer 30

-PM free to build any way he or she wants but traditionally has to consider region (due to federalism) , urban/rural distinctions, religion (less now), ethnicity and gender.

Question 31

Central Agencies

Answer 31

-support and advice PM and Cabinet -Privy Council Office > non partisan gurus of all things public administration. best civil servants -Prime Minister's Office > partisan office. 100+ staff, selected by PM and advisers. works closely with Treasury Board and Department of Finance to make the budget. give political advice

Question 32

The Prime Minister

Answer 32

- Central figure. MP, Party Leader and 1st Minister - MP: elected by constituents in a riding - Party leader: head of a private organization, campaign planning, controls brand, party nominations, decides who gets to run next - 1st Minister: gets to advise the crown, controls the cabinet and is the head of government.

Question 33

Savoie on Court Government 1999

Answer 33

- Expert on public administration - All roads lead to the prime minister , cabinet solidarity means PM gets his way - Court Government: PM is like a monarch, people serve at the feet of the PM who is the central actor. PM has diminished cabinet and parliament due to 1. National Unity, 2. Media, 3. PMO/PCO, 4. Pollsters, 5. Globalization 1. National Unity: 1976 PQ election. Don;t want to be the PM that blows up the country. Centralizes power. 2. Media: politics is about personalities. focus is all on the PM. 3. PMO/PCO: service v.s policy 4. Pollsters: replaced regional ministers. tells us what people think in certain regions. 5. Globalization: free hand in foreign affairs.

Question 34

Savoie on Constraints on PM Power

Answer 34

1. Caucus power (confidence) 2. Federalism 3. Constitution and the Charter though the judiciary 4. Public opinion 5. Opposition parties 6. Senate 7. Media

Question 35

Savoie on Civil Service

Answer 35

-Cabinet ministers are servants of the Crown, don't run an entire policy area -Bureaucracy = the permanent component of the executive -Line Departments such as the finance and transportation departments. Minister is in charge of the department but served by ranks of civil servants. Civil Servant > Assistant Deputy > Deputy Minister > Minister. Only Minister responsible to the House of Commons -Central Agencies: coordinate government policy

Question 36

House of Commons

Answer 36

- Venue for debate - 338 democratically elected seats equal to the number of ridings. # Changed in 2015 according to census - Organization reflects purpose: government and opposition face each other reflects adversarial nature. Speaker and clerks are in the middle. Ministers and PM in the front row. Shadow MP's critics of specific ministers, asks questions.

Question 37

Senate

Answer 37

- "sober second thought" - Senate is a co-equal chamber - Same powers as House of Commons except for money bills because they are not elected - Not a confidence chamber, 105 seats and people serve till 75 - Chose by the PM when vacancy opens. Must be 30 years of age and own 4000 dollars worth of property - Justin Trudeau reforms: appointing independents, 5 member advisory panels accepts applications. Severed partisan link. May lead to senate asserting its authority

Question 38

What do Parliaments Do? Ned Franks | EXAM

Answer 38

- Recruiting and training ground for politician leaders and political communication - Adversarial and consensual - Party discipline is product of problem (process of representation, electoral attitudes and parties) not the cause. - Adopts legislation and determines whether government has the right to govern. - Problems are partisanship and government domination - Reforms haven't worked, have make things worse because misunderstood purpose and function of parliament. - Idea of reform creates unreasonable expectations that cannot be met and the resulting failure equates to a loss of legitimacy for public and participants

Question 39

Ned Franks: Functions of Parliament | EXAM

Answer 39

1) Make a government via the electoral process 2) Make a government work. Authority, funds, resources for governing 3) Make government behave, keep government feet to the fire. Scrutinize government to account. This happens during question period. 4) Make an alternative government through the opposition. A government in waiting. Parliament = government accountability

Question 40

``` Officers of Parliament Speaker Clerk Hansard New Roles ```

Answer 40

- Speaker: also elected MP, most important, selected by MP's with secret ballot, start of new parliament, take your name OFF the list if you don't want to be speaker. Usually from the party that formed government. enforces parliamentary rules - Clerk: handles official documents and advise the speaker on rule disputes - Sergeant at Arms: security - Hansard: records the debate for the members and the public in real time. - Auditor General and Ethics Commisioner

Question 41

Question Period

Answer 41

- most visible part of parliamentary process - holds government accountable - institutionalizes opposition, criticize governments and suggest alternatives - a chance for backbench MP's to gain experience - once televised theatrics went up - 30 seconds to ask and 30 seconds to respond, don't get questions in advance

Question 42

Parliamentary Calander

Answer 42

- Schedule divided units - Parliament corresponds to election 1st Parliament 1867, now 42nd Parliament. - 1 year sessions, legislation introduced in that session needs to be completed in that session or have to start over next session - GG picks start of session via PM - Begins with throne speech read by GG prepared by PM staff. Description of legislative agenda

Question 43

Legislative Process

Answer 43

- Significant legislation and money bill come from ministry. - Private Members Bills: public bill introduced in legislature by member not in cabinet. can't include spending - 1-4, House of commons. 1st reading just the title then 2nd reading is full house debate 3rd sent to committee for inspection of the details 4th report stage and vote on any amendments Third reading is when bill gets voted on - 2 Senate readings then sent back if amendments to HOC, 3rd reading then royal assent and proclamation.

Question 44

Party Discipline

Answer 44

-Convention that all MP's within a party will vote together on every occasion as predetermined by the leader and enforced by the party whip. Pros: allows for reconciliation between collective policy making and representation of territorial interests. strengthens capacity to advance national policies. free votes would expose MP's to lobbying Cons: undemocratic does not allow MP's to represent their constituents. Reduce to voting machine.

Question 45

Courts at Confederation

Answer 45

- Judiciary does not appear until late in BNA Act 1867 because not significant for founders due to federal nature. - Significance of courts has grown since 1867, tasks assigned to judiciary have increased as well.

Question 46

Judicial Tasks

Answer 46

1) Adjudicate disputes between private parties. Lockean rationale, provincial jurisdiction (contracts and torts), QC Civil Code v.s Common Law 2) Adjudicate public law. Cases where a citizen is in conflict with the government. Cases where different branches of government are in conflict. Criminal and administrative law. 3) Not as important. Commissions of Inquiry. 4) Judicial Review: constitution is worded broadly and needs interpretation. Gives courts lots of power. Can;t seek disputes, need standing (live legal dispute.

Question 47

Reference Procedure

Answer 47

- SCC Act 1875 - Gvt can ask hypothetical legal questions or ask about specific statues but this is just advice. - Expediate the legal process - Patriation Reference 1981 - QC Sucession Reference 1998

Question 48

Judicial Hierarchies

Answer 48

- Trials v.s appeals. Organized based on nature of legal issue - Federalism, Canada possesses and integrated judicial system. Federal Court > Federal Court of Appeals, Provincial Court and Provincial Supreme Court all lead to SCC - Section 92, 96, 101 BNA Act sets up courts and who gets to appoint the justices

Question 49

Section 92

Answer 49

- Provincially created, provincially appointed - Most Canadian judges are S. 92 judges - Lots of provincial variation

Question 50

Section 96

Answer 50

- Provincially created, federally appointed - GG appoints Superior, District and County Courts - Intended to ensure the independence of the provincial superior courts from local politics and prejudice. - Traditionally up to the PM and Justice Minister. Has become less partisan after 1988 Mulroney v.s Turner - Result is the Judicial Advisory Committee (Harper Reforms) more policy and anti-legal elites - JT reverse, back to legal elites

Question 51

Section 101

Answer 51

- Federally created, federally appointed | - EX) federal court, tax court

Question 52

MC Question: Section 96 Courts are

Answer 52

-Provincially created and federally appointed

Question 53

SCC | History, Composition and Appointment

Answer 53

- Supreme Court Act 1875 - 1949, became highest court of appeal. - 9 Judges PM picks - By Convention ON 3 QC 3 West 2 and Atlantic 1 - JT tested convention recently by hinting at breaking convention but retreated. - Other considerations include language, gender, expertise and ethnicity - Appointments have become more political since 1982, mores scrutiny since they handle divisive political issues. 1) Federalism, provinces want a say in SCC apointments 2) Charter increased judicial power resulting in lobbying by some groups.

Question 54

SCC Reforms

Answer 54

- Paul Martin, attempted to remedy the democratic defect by adding confirmation style candidate for SCC, answer questions in front of a committee - 2015 Trudeau, bilingual requirements and transparency 1. Candidates apply, Advisory board reviews, short listed candidates reviewed by legal elites, parliamentary committee vets nominees then GG appoints them. - Barriers to substantive reforms = regime principles. Liberty v. Equality and the impartiality of the judicial system.

Question 55

Restraint v.s Activism

Answer 55

- Regime principle tension between liberty, equality and democracy. - Are rights primarily legal or political issues? Why should 9 unelected elites veto 338 elected ones - Charter and Courts make Canada have more liberal democratic rights.

Question 56

3 Fundamental Principles of the Canadian Judiciary

Answer 56

1) Impartiality: fair trail, impartial tribunal S. 11d CCRF adversarial nature, political neutrality and appeals to higher courts. 2) Judicial Independence: structures that help judges live up to impartiality. independence of executive. Security of tenure, fixed salaries and control of the administration of court that impact decision making. 3) Equality before the law S.15 CCRF

Question 57

Representation

Answer 57

- Section 37 BNA At 1867, # of MP's per province - Updated every 10 years with the census, connected to the population. - Riding usually has 80,000 people, set up by Elections Canada with some flexibility - Number of MP's cannot dip below the number of Senators a province has. Senate Floor Rule. Maritime provinces over represented according to their population. - Northern Canada, Atlantic, Western Canada, Central Canada by increasing number of seats. Ontario has more than the all the West combined.

Question 58

Voting in Canada

Answer 58

- no legal fixed dates - Constitution sets a limit at 5 years but usually 4. PM has discretion to schedule by election. - Officers: Chief Electoral Officer, Returning Officer: each riding gets one. Report to Chief Electoral Officer.

Question 59

Role of MP in Government

Answer 59

- Delegate model: representatives vote how constituents instruct them to. populist approach - Trustuee Model: opposite of delegate model. best judgement on behalf of constituents - Party Member Model: representatives loyal to a party platform/principles and vote accordingly. party as a brand, party first whether right or wrong. Party system is the regime within Canada. Remember ecosystem analogy. Consequences of this electoral system can be mechanical effects (number of parties) or psychological through strategic voting and the idea of wasted votes.

Question 60

How do Electoral Systems Espouse Representation | Types of Representation

Answer 60

- Translates votes in to seats - Determines representation by legislators 1. Geographical: tethered to a riding. (norm in our system) 2. Ideological 3. Party political 4. Descriptive, legislature looking like society itself.

Question 61

Canada's Electoral System

Answer 61

- Single Member Plurality - Territorial based electoral districts - One member from each district, candidate with the most votes wins the seat. no need for a majority. - 1987 NB liberals swept all the seats with only 59% of the popular vote - Geographical and party political representation - Not so good on the descriptive front - False majorities

Question 62

Cairns

Answer 62

1968 - Choice of electoral system crucial importance precisely because of different systems organize and prioritize 4 representation values in different ways. - Electoral system shaped evolution of political parties, SMP exacerbates regional cleavages, leading parties to focus on certain regions. Becomes the most fruitful way to organize electoral support. - Screws parties with spread out support. Bias towards strong parties - Regionalization is bad because it frustrates the party system, real competition in every part of the country is good - Sectional cleavages become much more pronounces between parties in parliament than they are at the electoral level. - Against reform because regionalism will not be reformed by any other system. not caused by institutions - Alternatives would result in further fragmentation, minority governments and cabinet instability.

Question 63

Alternative Vote

Answer 63

- Majoritarian system must receive majority. - Allowed to rank preferences on ballot but not obligated to - 1st preferences are counted, if no one gets a majority, weakest candidate is dropped - 2nd choice, goes on until one candidate gets 50% - Australia's national parliament - Liberal's preference - Single member districts, geographical rep - Majority of voters must approve ideological - Small parties excluded

Question 64

Proportional Representation

Answer 64

- List, Pure - Electoral districts with more than one member - Electors vote for a party not a candidate. In each district, in each ED number of seats = the percent popular vote for the party. - Each party provides a list of candidates ranked from most important to least and elected candidates go in order off the party list. - No geographical rep but easier to achieve descriptive, ideological and party political - coalition governments are the norm, leads to instability if not regulated properly.

Question 65

MC Question: What is the preferred electoral system for reformers in Canada

Answer 65

-Mixed Member Proportional

Question 66

Mixed Member Proportional

Answer 66

- Combine PR with majority system - Plurality elections held and PR seats to balance parties according to votes after election from list. Electors cat two ballots one for local candidate and one for party. - Allows for vote different candidate and party. Mitigates wasted votes - 2 tiered representation in house. - Geographical, ideological, party political and descriptive easier to achieve together. Minority or coalition governments are normal. Claims to tick all rep boxes

Question 67

Impact of Proportional Representation on the Canadian Political System

Answer 67

1. more representative parliament? 2. less regional polarization? 3. less emphasis on constituency work for MP's 4. no less party discipline 5. no single party majority governments 6. weaker PM's? 7. weaker voter accountability of parties

Question 68

Trudeau Government Reform Timeline | Should We Change How We Vote

Answer 68

- Liberals were in 3rd place, unveil 32 point plan to restore democracy - 2015 will be last SMP election - Elections Canada says it needs two years notice - Appoints Minister of Democratic Institutions - Weak minister, town hall style process turned partisan - Committee criticized for being majority liberal - JT says less urgency to change because Canadians happy with government. Monsef attacks commitee reports, shuffled and replaced by worse MP Karina Gould - Should We Change How We Vote: how we ought to change our electoral system. referendum but need relevant issues need to be put forth to incite substantive debate. SMP already in a modest reform constantly through the evolution of other institutions. Single Party Governments can move to ideal average voter point - Abandon it.Off the table

Question 69

Loewen: A Case for SMP

Answer 69

- Against reform, SMP is stable, responsive and accountable - Peaceful transfers of power - Translates preferences well - Punishes politicians

Question 70

Section 3

Answer 70

-every citizen has the right to vote and is qualified for membership in the legislature or house of commons.

Question 71

Microcosm Theory of Representation

Answer 71

- legislative bodies fully representative only if assembly is a microcosm of society as a whole. - Inclusivity is a requirement for fairness - Ensures all perspectives are heard and interests defended. - How true is it that the interests of a group can only be defended by someone with membership in said group?

Question 72

What Does the Design of an Electoral System Depend On?

Answer 72

1. electoral districts v.s single election 2. the number of representatives 3. method of electing representatives

Question 73

Candidates

Answer 73

Need to have an official nomination paper signed by 100 eligible voters Does not need to reside in district although it is a political liability 1000 deposit returned when financial records are submitted in a timely manner

Question 74

Polling During Elections

Answer 74

-Used for marketing and gauging public opinion Problems: 1) reduces MP's role as a source of information about the candidates 2) conformism. promotes view something is good just because majority say its good 3) how informed are the people being polled? 4) ban on publication of pools immediately preceeding an election because it turns in to a horse race without a focus on real issues, effects voting behavior but violates freedom of press. No ban in recent election