Chapter 10 Political Challenges to LIberalism

• Canada - Constitutional Monarchy. Westminster Parliamentary System. King Charles III (head of state) 
• The Will of the people: Take into account all perspectives and viewpoints of the people. The collective desires and preferences of the citizens in a democratic system
• The Will of the people Democracy: Direct Democracy and Representative Democracy.
• Direct Democracy: Every citizen actively participates in decisions. Rousseau.
• Representative Democracy: Citizens elect governing officials to make decisions on their behalf. Loke
• Initiatives: More common in the US. A citizen’s group draws up a petition. If the petition is signed by enough people a public vote is held 
• Referendums/Plebiscites: All citizens vote to either accept or reject a proposed piece of legislation. Plebiscite literally means “the common people speak.” 
• Recalls: A majority of voters choose to remove an elected official or government from power. Usually done through a petition 
• Direct Democracy - First practiced in ancient Athens, the first form of democratic government. Citizens would vote every single issue. “Citizen” was a Greek born male
• Direct Democracy - Every citizen’s voice is important but is practical only with small numbers of people. If the population is too large, it does not make monetary sense, and is inefficient. Requires people to meet, discuss and vote on issues 
• Direct Democracy - Three instruments of direct democracy are: Initiatives. Referendums or plebiscite. Recalls 

  • People → Government 
• Representative Democracy - Also known as “indirect democracy”. Citizens elect a representative to act on their behalf to run the government
• Representative Democracy - In Canada they are federally call Members of Parliament (MP’s). In ALberta and most provinces they are called MLAs, in Quebec its called MPPs

  • People → representatives → Government 
• Responsible Government: Representative responsible government. Similar idea to the system of checks and balance. Purpose of the head of state and governor general. Things must be approved and voted on by the Legislative branch Executive branch needs the support of majority of MP’s
• Responsible Democracy: Prime MInister is usually the leader of the political party that wins the most seats. Opposition → challenge government. Question period, opposition challenge government and ask cabinet to explain policies 
• Political Parties: Not all part of the Constitution, rather they are used for organization of the government. Organized group of people who have shared a set of values and understanding about what direction the country should be headed in
• Political Parties: Executive: organize the party, leadership of the party by election. Come up with the party’s political platform 
• Joseph Howe: Against all political parties. Causes division and conflict among groups.
• Partisanship: values party loyalty over anything else.
• Political Parties in Canada : Liberal, Conservative, Bloc Quebecois, NDP
• Canada’s Parliamentary Democracy: The nation is divided into electoral districts called ridings or constituencies. Each riding sends one representative to the House of Commons; this is called a single-member constituency. (sometimes referred to as "first past the post" because as in a horse race, the candidate that is first to gain a certain amount of votes win)
• Canada's Parliamentary Democracy: Canada has a bicameral (2 chamber) legislature: The House of Commons and The Senate.
• Canada's Parliamentary Democracy: The house of commons: Elected. Power of the purse meaning any law that deals with the spending of collecting taxpayers money must originate from the House of Commons. The Senate: Appointed.
• First Past the Post: Canada has a single member constituency with multiple parties. The greatest advantage to this is that there is real choice between competing parties .
• First Past the Post: House of Commons there are 338 seats with each seat representing a district/riding/constituency distributed by representation by population. To determine the winner of an election for a riding, Canada uses a system known as First Past the Post or FPP. It is a winner take all. 
• First Past the Post: The winner of each riding is the one with the most votes,  not necessarily the majority. This is due to multiple parties which split up the votes. Under FPP, the others are tossed out. What makes it strange is that it is possible that the majority votes against the winner and ter under FPP, they get no representation
• First PAst the Post: In Canada we do not vote directly for the Prime Minister. The leader of the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons becomes the next Prime Minister 
• What are the 3 types of governments that can be formed after an election?

  Majority, Minority and Coalition
• Majority Government: The most stable form of government with the purpose to pass laws as a majority government can guarantee the passage of any law.
• In Canada, party discipline is extremely strong. Members of Parliament must vote according to their party even if it means voting against the people they represent. This allows for things to get done.
• Minority Government: This occurs when no single party wins more than half the seats in the House of Commons. The winner is determined by the party that has the most seats.  This is an unstable form of government as they cannot guarantee the passage of laws. If the government has a law that is defeated, there is a vote of non-confidence
• When there is a vote of non-confidence (in a minority government) A new party takes place or an election is held immediately. The legislature has lost confidence of the government's ability to govern.
• Coalition Government: two different political parties combine their seats to form the government. This form of government is also unstable as the parties will not always agree with each other (Liberals and NDP)
• House of Commons: 338 seats. Elected Representatives: Members of Parliament (MPs). Debate issues, pass bills. Government and opposition. Power of the Purse  
• The Senate (Canada): 105 seats. Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister, they are not elected. Bills from the House of Commons must be approved by the Senate who can suggest amendments or even reject a bill. “Sober second thought”
• The Senate (Canada) Benefit: They are not subject to the whims of democrats voters. They are not elected and thus can be more honest on matters. They are not there to please the population in order to gain votes into power. 
• While Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy, the U.S. is a Republic. A republic is a sovereign nation that has no king or queen
• Senate and House of Representatives: Bicameral System. Together are referred to as Congress.
• US Legislative Branch Consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
• House of Representatives: voted in according to representation by population. 435 Representatives - each representing a congressional district. Elected every 2 years.