CAD. GOV & POLITICS
POL214 Y1Y Summer 2020
Professor David Pond - david.pond@utoronto.ca
Lecture 1 and 2 - May 4 & 6th
Textbook Chapter 1
Introduction
Liberal + Democracy
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Small “l” liberal democracy -> refers to regime
Liberalism = colonial British export
Values of Liberalism
○ Trial by jury
○ Independent judiciary
○ Right of the accused to face their accusers in an open court
○ Free elections
○ Freedom of speech and of assembly
○ The rule of law
○ Legal equality
○ Popular sovereignty
○ Religious tolerance
National Di erences in Liberal Democracy
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CAD = British-style parliamentary democracy
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TEST QUESTION:
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How democratic is Canada really?
Liberal democracies = representative democracies
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Limited, indirect form of democracy
Other representative and indirect democracies -> eg. US republican system
Liberal Representative democracy -> Elect politicians who govern
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Elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House -> vote on policies
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Also has aspects of direct democracy at times (referendums), but
rare - 3 CAD Referendums:
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1898 - on controlling liquor sales
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1942: drafting soldiers to fight WW2
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1992: to amend the constitutions
Can be contrasted with Direct or Plebiscitary Democracy
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People directly make political decisions -> Referendum (yes/no question)
Features of Our System of Government
Legislative Branch
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Domain of legislature - Where elected representatives debate and pass laws
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Federally = Parliament of Canada
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Provincially = provinces’ Legislature or Legislative Assembly
Executive Branch
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Domain of the Executive - initially proposes decisions that legislature approves
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Prime Minister and cabinet
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Nonpartisan bureaucracy
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Provincial level works the same way
Executives administer programs approved by legislature
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The elected prime minister and cabinet direct the
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Non elected and nonpartisan bureaucracy
Judicial Branch
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Domain of the Independent Judiciary
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Resolves disputes about the legality of government decisions
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Whether they are following the law or violating citizens’ rights
Parliamentary regime at the federal level in Canada:
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Winning Power - Majority and Minority
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DEFINITIONS ON TEST
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Parties win elections and form government by winning seats in the House of
Commons
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Voters pick local Member of Parliament (MP) for their
riding/constituency
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Constituency = seat, MPs hold seats in House of Commons
When a party wins 50% + 1 of the seats, they form a majority government
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When one party does not win over 50% of seats, they form a minority
government
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One party in power with less than majority
PM has more power in Majority
Coalition Governments
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CAD elect few few (compared to NZ and Australia, for example)
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Theoretically possible under parliamentary regime, but not so much
in practice
Parliamentary Government = Partisan
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PM and ministers must be MPS
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PM appoints cabinet ministers to run the government departments
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PM = leader of party in power
Aka ministries
Elected government in Canada = partisan
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Eg. Liberal PM selects cabinet ministers from other Liberal MPs elected to
House of Commons
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Parliamentary democracy -> politics = competition between organized
parities
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Government is run by part that wins most recent election
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All losing parties = opposition to government
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Sit opposite House of Commons to government party
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MPs that lost election = opposition
All MPs in party that forms government who are not ministers =
“government backbenchers”
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Parliamentary System has fused executive and legislative branches
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Members of executive (PM and cabinet) sit in the elected legislature, the
House of Commons
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PM and cabinet ministers must be MPs
Government Departments
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Staffed by non-elected, non-partisan, career civil servants
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Administer policies and programs chosen by cabinet
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Aka public servants, bureaucrats
Debated and approved by parliament
Hallmark of Parliamentary system = Constitutional convention of ministerial
accountability
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Ministers are accountable to parliament for all decisions made by the
executive, not the non-elected civil servants
Textbook Notes - Chapter 1
Political Regimes
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Aristotle’s Six Regimes:
Who Rules
Common Good
Own Interest
One
Kingship
Tyranny
Few
Aristocracy
Oligarchy
Many
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Democracy
Tyranny of the Majority
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Majority mistreats minorities (hence Democracy in bad)
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Polity
Polity does not exist in real life, just in theory
Canadian Regime
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Based on equality and liberty = regime principles
Equality
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Fundamental principle of democracy
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Democracy grants political power to all citizens equally
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No one has a special title to rule
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Democratic principle of equality = political principle
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NOT social or economic, only share political power
Direct Democracies vs Parliamentary Democracies
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Directly involved in political process
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Vs parliamentary = representative democracy with elected reps
United States’ Republical Regime
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Full and final authority given to elected officials
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Crown still has influence in parliamentary system
Liberty
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Liberal democracy
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Combines liberty and democracy
Liberty = private sphere should be free for all
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Theory of liberalism = free as long as we don’t break the law
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Contemporary liberal democracies -> 2 schools
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Natural Rights
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Innate rights of every human aka human rights
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Inalienable even if not recognized
Utilitarianism
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Importance of liberty derives from its usefulness of promoting human
happiness
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Rights are created within each regime as a response to
circumstances
5
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Harm principle - John Stuart Mill
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Gov. cannot interfere if actions don’t harm others
2 Main Political Implications of the Harm Principle:
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Onus of proof on government to show why law limits on individual
liberty is necessary
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Law only valid if it is preventing harm of others
Three Essential Principles of Rights:
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Protection of the private sphere
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Respect for Minority Rights
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The Rule of Law, no one is above the law
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