Political Parties & the
Party System
Chapter 9
Learning Objectives
• Origins of Canada’s party system
• Brokerage politics
• Role of minor parties
• Party finances
Political Party
• Organized group that nominates
candidates and contests elections
to influence the personnel and
policies of government.
Seven Functions of Parties
1. Integrating citizens into the political
system
2. Developing policy
3. Elite recruitment
4. Organization of government
5. Structuring the vote
6. Organizing public opinion
7. Interest aggregation
Canadian Parties
• First Party System, 1867-1921
– Liberals and Conservatives dominated
Canadian politics.
– Conservatives began in 1854 with
MacDonald
– Mackenzie headed the Liberal
government from 1873-1878.
– Went from one-party dominance of
Conservatives to two-party system with
Liberals and Conservatives on equal
footing.
Prime Ministers, 1867-1921
John A. Macdonald
Conservative
1867-1873
Alexander Mackenzie
Liberal
1873-1878
John A. Macdonald
Conservative
1878-1891
John Abbott
Conservative
1891-1892
John Thompson
Conservative
1892-1894
Mackenzie Bowell
Conservative
1894-1896
Charles Tupper
Conservative
1896
Wilfrid Laurier
Liberal
1896-1911
Robert Borden
Conservative
1911-1920
Arthur Meighen
Conservative
1920-1921
Second Party System,
1921-1957
• Two-party system to a two-plus or twoand-a-half party system.
– Dominated by Mackenzie King and Louis St.
Laurent.
– 1921, farmers entered with progressive
candidates.
– CCF formed in Calgary in 1932.
– 1933, Regina Manifesto adopted.
– 1935 Social Credit, 1935.
Prime Ministers, 1921-1957
Mackenzie King
Liberal
1921-1926
Arthur Meighen
Conservative
1926
Mackenzie King
Liberal
1926-1930
R.B. Bennett
Conservative
1930-1935
Mackenzie King
Liberal
1935-1948
Louis St. Laurent
Liberal
1948-1957
The Third Party System, 19571993
• Altering minority and majority
governments.
• NDP created in 1961.
• 1980s, three-party system.
• NDP was entrenched as the third
national party.
Prime Ministers, 1957-1993
John Diefenbaker
PC
1957-1963
Lester Pearson
Liberal
1963-1968
Pierre Trudeau
Liberal
1968-1979
Joe Clark
PC
1979-1980
Pierre Trudeau
Liberal
1980-1984
John Turner
Liberal
1984
Brian Mulroney
PC
1984-1993
Kim Campbell
PC
1993
Fourth Party System, 1993-?
• Emergence of two new regional
parties.
• Multi-party system.
• Canadian politics have become
more regionalized.
The Broker System
• Political parties are conciliators,
mediators, or brokers to the
cleavages in Canadian society.
• They maximize their appeal to the
most number of voters.
• This reduces the ideological stance
of the Liberals and Conservatives
and underscores the fight for the
middle.
Class-based Parties
• The development of the CCF and
the NDP underlines the theory
behind class-based parties.
• These parties were disenfranchised
by the traditional
Liberal/Conservative collusion.
One-party Dominance
• The view that the Liberals are the
natural governing party in Canada.
• Conservatives have assumed the
role of opposition party.
• The NDP are labeled the innovation
party.
Decline of Parties
• Traditional parties have been taken
over by other institutions.
• Parties gear their activities to the
media.
• Public opinion polls serve a better
role than the Members of
Parliament to gauge public opinion.
Minor Parties
• Factors that influence the
emergence of minor parties:
– Region
– Ethnicity
– Class
– The economy
– Charismatic leadership.
Rise of Minor Parties,
Region
Progressives
Ethnicity

CCF
Social Credit

Reconstruction
Bloc Populaire

Economy

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





Leader


NDP
Creditists
Class


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Libertarian

Christian Heritage

Green

Confederation of
Regions


Reform
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
Bloc Quebecois

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
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Party Organization
• Parliamentary party, or party
caucus.
– Party’s elected representatives in
parliament.
• Extra-parliamentary party
– Party activists and executive
members,
– Headquarters
– Bureaucracy, staff
– Ordinary party members
Mass and Cadre Parties
•
•
•
•
•
Mass
Large membership
Leader chosen at
convention
Financed on
membership fees
Allows membership
input on policy
Operates
democratically
Cadre
• Small local or national
elite dominate
• Parliamentary party
selects leaders
• Depends on small
number of large
donations
• Permits the
parliamentary party to
formulate party policy
• Run by elite
General Structure and
Operations
• Conventions
– Held regularly
– Election of party
executive, policy
discussion
– Leadership
• Party Executive
• Party Headquarters
• Federal-Provincial
Party Links
Iron Law of Oligarchy
• Roberto Michels.
– Tendency towards elitism is inevitable
within all political parties.
– Leaders create small group of
advisors who hold majority of power.
– Parliamentary wing of party claims
precedence over party.
Party Ideology
• Can parties be placed on a leftright continuum?
• Does the scale given in the text
provide better coherence.
• What would your scale look like?