Two Democracies growing up next door to one another each with their own personality and type of democracy.

Political Parties of Canada

The three main political parties of Canada are:

Liberal Conservative New Democrat Party

Conservative Party

Major Policies•Generally pro-business with emphasis on federal debt reduction.•Generally favour a less centralized party structure than the liberals.

Sources of Support

•More likely middle aged and older citizens, especially in rural areas.•Since 1984 have dug into broader base of former liberal supporters.•Strong in western Canada in the 1980’s.

Liberal Party

Major Policies•Generally pro business, with traditional leanings toward ethnic voters.•Supported spending on expanded social welfare programs in the 1970’s & 80’s.•Centralized party structure

Sources of Support•More likely to be urban and central Canadian.•Eastern Canadian support at some times•Lost Quebec support in the late 1980’s.•Historically the dominant party in Canada.

New Democratic Party

Major Policies•Generally pro union and supportive of labour groups, small businesses.

•Emphasize social welfare state.

•Moving toward policies that will assist business development.•A more relaxed organizational structure, but centralized at the national level.

Sources of Support•Cuts across income and occupation lines•Stronger in the prairies (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)•Recently have gained support in Ontario and British Columbia.

Canada is a federation governed under a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. Governmental powers in Canada are divided between the central or federal government and the provincial and territorial governments. Territories have less autonomy from the federal government than provinces have.

Canadian Government

The Queen The Queen is the formal head of the Canadian state. She is represented federally by the Governor General, and provincially by the Lieutenant-Governors.

The Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Canada the head of the Government of Canada, is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. The Prime Minister does not have a fixed term. A prime minister may resign for personal reasons at any time, but is required to resign only when an opposition party wins a majority of the seats in the House. If his or her party loses a motion of no confidence, a prime minister may resign (allowing another party to form the government), but more often will ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and bring about a general election.

The Cabinet

As mentioned, the Prime Minister chooses the members of the Cabinet. The Cabinet in Canada is of the British type. It is formed, on the request of the governor-general, by a prime minister who is a member of the House of Commons and usually the leader of the strongest party in the house.

The House of Commons

The House of Commons is the major law-making body. In each of the country’s 308 constituencies, or ridings, the candidate who gets the largest number of votes is elected to the House of Commons, even if his or her vote is less than half the total. The number of constituencies may be changed after every general census, pursuant to the constitution and the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act that allot parliamentary seats roughly on the basis of population. Every province must have at least as many Members in the Commons as it had in the Senate before 1982. The constituencies vary somewhat in size, within prescribed limits.

The Senate

The Senate usually has 105 members. The Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. They hold office until age 75 unless they miss two consecutive sessions of Parliament. Till 1965, they held office for life. The Senate can initiate any bills except bills providing for the expenditure of public money or imposing taxes. It can amend or reject any bill whatsoever. It can reject any bill as often as it sees fit. Many people disagree with the appointed nature of the senate and wish for it to be an elected organization.

Supreme Court of Canada,

Highest authority and final court of appeal in the judicial system of Canada. Nine judges compose the Supreme Court of Canada, which presides over cases of national importance, settles disputes involving interpretations of law, and evaluates the constitutionality of existing and proposed legislation. By establishing legal precedents that are followed by lower courts throughout the country, the Supreme Court provides coherence and unity to the Canadian legal system. Supreme Court justices and staff work in the Supreme Court Building located in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Constitution provides that almost all our courts shall be provincial, that is, created by the provincial legislatures. But it also provides that the judges of all these courts from county courts up (except courts of probate in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) shall be appointed by the federal government.

The combination of federal, state, and local laws, bodies, and agencies that is responsible for carrying out the operations of the United States. The federal government of the United States is centered in Washington, D.C.

In the United States the one basic principle is representative democracy, which defines a system in which the people govern themselves by electing their own leaders. The American government functions to secure this principle and to further the common interests of the people.

United States Government

Republican Party

One of the two major United States political parties, founded by a coalition in 1854. Also referred to as the GOP (grand old party). Historically they are the conservative, business oriented party.

Democratic Party

One of the two main political parties of the United States. Its origins can be traced to the coalition formed behind Thomas Jefferson in the 1790s to resist the policies of George Washington’s administration. Historically they are the Liberal, socially oriented party.

To implement its essential democratic ideals, the United States has built its government on four elements:

(1) Popular sovereignty, meaning that the people are the ultimate source of the government’s authority;

(2) Representative government;

(3) Checks and balances; and

(4) Federalism, an arrangement where powers are shared by different levels of government.

Another focus of the American government is the separation of powers that Montesquieu wrote about. No branch having more power than another.

The president and vice president are the only officials elected by all citizens of the United States; both serve four-year terms. Although the president shares power with Congress and the judiciary, he or she is the most powerful and important officeholder in the country. The president has no vote in Congress but proposes much of the legislation that becomes law. As the principal maker of foreign policy, the president of the United States has become one of the world’s most important leaders in international affairs.

Executive

The Cabinet of the U.S. government is made up of the administrative heads of the executive departments of the federal government, under the President of the United States.

Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the United States. The Constitution divides Congress into two structures—a House of Representatives and a Senate. These structures are jointly assigned “all legislative powers” in the national government.

Legislative

Judicial

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Litigants dissatisfied with a lower court decision may appeal to the Supreme Court, although very few cases ever reach the court. A ruling of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed. As Justice Robert Jackson once explained: “The [Supreme] Court is not final because it is infallible; the court is infallible because it is final.” There are currently nine Supreme Court justices, who, like all federal judges, are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

A basic difference between our constitution and the American is, of course, that we are a constitutional monarchy and they are a republic. That looks like only a formal difference. It is very much more, for we have parliamentary-cabinet government, while the Americans have presidential-congressional.

Another is in the United States the head of state and the head of the government are one and the same. The President is both at once. Here, the Queen, ordinarily represented by the Governor General, is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of the Government.

For another thing, presidential-congressional government is based on a separation of powers. The American President cannot be a member of either House of Congress.

Parliamentary-cabinet government is based on a concentration of powers. The Prime Minister and every other Minister must by custom (though not by law) be a member of one House or the other, or get a seat in one House or the other within a short time of appointment.