Social Unit 4 Definitions
Representative Democracies
Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. A form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly.
Direct Democracies
A form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly.
Representation by Population
Representation by population is a political system in which seats in a legislature are allocated on the basis of population. It upholds a basic principle of parliamentary democracy that all votes should be counted equally.
Simple Plurality System
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate who polls more than any other is elected.
***Whoever achieves the most most votes wins
First Past the Post
An electoral system where voters cast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins the election.
A form of simple plurality (most votes wins)
Single Member Constituency
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder.
Proportional Representation
A proportional representation system would elect multiple representatives in each district, distributing seats in the legislature roughly in proportion to the votes each party receives.
Popular Vote
An act of voting by the electorate of a country or area.
the vote of all a country's or constituency's voters, as opposed to that of a particular group such as an electoral college, or parliament
Constituency
a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body.
AKA riding
Riding
A constituency or electoral district
: a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative (as to a legislative or executive office)
Parlimentary System
: a system of government having the real executive power vested in a cabinet composed of members of the legislature who are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature
Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, founded on the rule of law and respect for rights and freedoms.
Electorate
all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election.
Secret Ballot
a ballot in which votes are cast in secret.
Majority Government
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multiple parties.
(more than 50%)
Minority Government
a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the legislature.
(has less than 50%)
Coalition Government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government.
**when parties join together
Plebiscite
the direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question such as a change in the constitution.
***Held to provide politicians with a sense of peoples opinions (non-bidning --> dont have to)
Referendum
Must implement decision making reached by a direct vote (binidng--> have to)
Charlottetown Accord Referendum
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 and was defeated
The Accord would have recognized Quebec as a distinct society
Separation of Powers
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into "branches", each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches.
Executive, Legislative, Judicial
Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch (Parliament):
Parliament is Canada's legislature, the federal institution with the power to make laws, to raise taxes, and to authorize government spending
***Make Law
Executive Branch
They have important constitutional responsibilities, including signing bills into law, summoning and dissolving Parliament, and swearing in the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
***Implement Law (CEO/ runs day to day operations)
Judicial Branch
The judiciary is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law in legal cases.
****Enforce/ Interpret Law
House of Commons/ House of Representatives
- 338 members
- Representation by Population --> voted by first past the post system
- 1 rep for every ~ 100,000
- 5 year terms
Senate (Canada)
- 105 senators
- appointed by the prime minister
- should / must pass every bill into law
- have to be between 30-75 years old
- represent regionally (gender, culture, ethnicity, age)
Senate (USA)
- 2 per state
- not rep by pop
- 6 year terms (1/3 at a time)
Congress (USA)
- 435 members
- elected by rep by pop (~ 1 every 250,000 people)
- elected on 2 year terms
- can also be known as house of representatives
Member of Parliment
A member of parliament is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their riding
Bill
A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law.
Party Solidarity
Party discipline is a system of political norms, rules and subsequent respective consequences for deviance that are designed to ensure the relative cohesion of members of the respective party group
Head of State
the chief public representative of a country, such as a president or monarch, who may also be the head of government.
King Charles III is the head of state in Canada
Head of Government
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government. They traditionally play many roles including political party leader, Cabinet leader and MP. The Prime Minister determines the government's agenda, guides policy development and selects members of the Cabinet.
Head of government in Canada is Justin Trudeau
Constitutional Monarchy
A system of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government. The monarch may be the head of state or a purely ceremonial leader but the constitution allocates the rest of the government's power to the legislature and judiciary.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy
Federation
A federation is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government.
: an encompassing political or societal entity formed by uniting smaller or more localized entities
Republic
a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
Governer General
the chief representative of the Crown in a Commonwealth country of which the British monarch is head of state.
- appointed by monarchy, advice of the PM
- represents Canada on the international stage
Mary Simon is governer general of Canada
Unicameral Legistlature
A legislature is unicameral if it consists of only one house.
Bicameral Legislature
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses
The Parliament of Canada is “bicameral”, meaning it has two chambers: the Senate and the House of Commons.
Cabinet
It is the body of ministerial advisors that sets the federal government's policies and priorities for the country.
~ 30 cabinet ministers --> MP's chosen by the PM from their own party
Portfolio
In politics, a portfolio is a minister's responsibility for a particular area of a government's activities
Also, portfolio can refer to the duties of a government official
Cabinet Minister
a member of a parliamentary cabinet.
~ 30 cabinet ministers in Canada
- ministers are MP's chosen by the PM from their own party
Cabinet Solidarity
Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them
Party Whip
Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
Responsible Government
Responsible government refers to a government that is responsible to the people. In Canada, responsible government is an executive or Cabinet that depends on the support of an elected assembly, rather than a monarch or their representatives.
**the governing party must maintain the confidence of the people (house) at all times
Vote of Nonconfidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion of confidence and corresponding vote of confidence) is a formal expression by a deliberative body (often a legislature) as to whether an officeholder (typically an executive) is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office.
The Speaker of The House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair.
In Canada it is the speaker's responsibility to manage the House of Commons and supervise its staff. It is also the speaker's duty to act as a liaison with the Senate and the Crown.
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting or grouping of all members of a specific political party or movement.
**Meeting
Recall Legislation
A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended.
Residual Powers
This power is "residuary" in the sense that any matter that does not come within the power of provincial legislatures comes within the power of the federal Parliament. This residuary power ensures that every area of legislation comes under one or both of Canada's two orders of government.
Federal System
Parliament consists of the Crown, the Senate, and the House of Commons, and laws are enacted once they are agreed to by all three parts. Since Canada is a federal state, responsibility for lawmaking is shared among one federal, ten provincial and three territorial governments.
***More then one branch shares law making powers
The Electoral College
Electoral College is the sytem used to choose the president
- all voters cast ballots for their choice for president in state presidential elections.
- The presidential candidate who gets the most votes within an individual state is said to have won the popular vote.
-These results are not directly used to determine who will win the presidential election.
-The popular vote is used to inform a second vote—one by a select group of electors known as the Electoral College.
Checks and Balances
In the U.S. government, checks and balances refers to the separation of power in the government, which is ensured through the establishment of three different branches: the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch.
Presidential Veto
The veto allows the President to “check” the legislature by reviewing acts passed by Congress and blocking measures he finds unconstitutional, unjust, or unwise. Congress's power to override the President's veto forms a “balance” between the branches on the lawmaking power.
Impeachment
Impeachment is the process of bringing charges against a government official for wrongdoing. A trial may be held, and the official may be removed from office
Voter Apathy
Carelessly voting, with no genuine purpose or intention
- Voter apathy is a lack of interest among voters in the elections of representative democracies.
Problems with voter apathy: by not voting you are giving someone else more power, can give organized extremist parties a better chance for a more concentrated vote and therefore more seats in parliment
Lobby/ Pressure Groups
Their role is to influence government officials to make decisions that best represent the groups interets
Multi-party System
a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition
Two-party System
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape.
Backbencher
MP's in the governing party who are not a part of Cabinet
Bureaucracy
a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.
Civil servant
someone who works in a department of a country's government but who is not a part of its military
Filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision.
Free press
A free and independent press has been theorized to be a key mechanism of a functioning, healthy democracy. In the absence of censorship, journalism exists as a watchdog of private and government action, providing information to maintain an informed citizenry of voters.
Majority Tyranny/ Minority Rights
Rule by majority without respect for minority righst
Partisanship
A partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents.
Pluralism
a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.