Canada Political Culture: Less deferential than that of Great Britain but not as strongly anti-authoritarian as that of the United States - strong participant and subject orientation. Result of post-1776 revised colonial policy. Executive: Prime Minister appointed by Royal Governor-General (Queen's/King's representative in Canada) from party winning majority of seats in House of Commons. P.M. forms cabinet from members of his/her own party. "Government" falls by a vote of no-confidence or by its own resignation.. Legislature: House of Commons comprised of Members of Parliament elected from 301 single-member districts across Canada. Has enumerated powers similar to those of House of Representatives in U.S. Upper house, the Senate, is composed of 105 Senators who are appointees of provincial and municipal governments and has advisory powers but cannot block legislation of the lower house. Judiciary: Canadian Supreme Court has power of judicial review of Parliament's legislation and of executive actions. Electoral System: Single-member districts of approximately equal population Political Parties: Progressive Conservatives (right) and Liberals (liberal-left) represent two main parties that have alternated in power at the national level. The New Democratic Party is a more far-left socialist party and is the third largest national party and has headed two provincial governments. The Social Credit party in western Canada, despite its name and its emphasis on government initiative in economic development, is widely regarded as pro-business and socially conservative. The Parti Qu‚b‚cois is the separatist party now leading the government of Quebec Province Current House of Commons (June 2000) Liberal Party of Canada/ Parti Lib‚ral du Canada (liberal) LPC 38.4 157 Reform Party/ Parti R‚formiste du Canada (conservative) RP 19.3 57 Progressive Conservative Party/ Parti Progressiste-Conservateur (conservative) PCP 18.9 18 New Democratic Party/ Nouveau Parti D‚mocratique (social-democratic) NDP 11.0 20 Bloc Qu‚b‚cois (Quebecers Bloc, separatist) BQ 10.7 44 non-partisans 5 Standings in the Senate (105 members) Liberal Party 58 Progressive Conservative Party 36 Independent 6 Vacant seats 5 Province Population Senators Alberta 2.65 million 6 British Columbia 3.5 million 6 Manitoba 1.1 million 6 New Brunswick 0.74 million 10 Newfoundland 0.54 million 6 Nova Scotia 0.92 million 10 Ontario 10.8 million 22 P.E.I. 0.13 million 2 Quebec 7.1 million 24 Saskatchewan 0.98 million 6 Territories Nunavat 17,500 1 N.W. Territories 45,000 1 Yukon 31,000 1 Total 28.8 million 105 Interest Groups: Canadian business and labor groups are organized as lobbies and regulated in such the same way as comparable groups in the U.S. Special Features: Canada combines a unitary form of government (British parliamentary system) with federalism---two levels of government (national and provincial) exist each of which has powers that the other does not. The division is very similar to that existing in the U.S. with two differences that give Canadian provinces more power than their U.S. counterparts--whereas the U.S. states have unspecified "reserved powers" (Amendment X) that can be whittled away by the national government's "implied powers" (Art. 1, Sec. 8, last clause) the Canadian provinces have their own separate list of "enumerated powers" within the Canadian constitution. The Provinces also are the primary owners of their respective public lands rather than the federal government. Problems: A special problem is that of "biculturalism" --- because Quebec has repudiated the Official Languages Act by outlawing the use of English as a commercial language within Quebec the western provinces have repudiated their official use of French. Separatism in Quebec threatens the Canadian union and secession by Quebec might lead English-speaking provinces to seek statehood with the U.S. French-Speakers 27% English-Speakers-British origin 40% Other European 20% Others 11.5% Indigenous 1.5% Western Disaffection - British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all grumble at excessive federal attention to Quebec - also want a "Triple E" Senate, that is, on that is - Elected - has Effective Powers - and has Equal Representation of Provinces FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 1. Given the definition of a "consociational society" is the United States today a consociational society? Why so, or why not? 2. If the United States is a consociational society, what are its component national groups? How alike or unlike are they in terms of language, history, and culture? 3. What are the political implications of this diversity, or lack of diversity, for the United States' internal politics and/or political stability? 4. Does the United States have any political arrangements that define any special status for component national groups? Nationality is defined as involving some combination of i) a common history or experience as a community, ii) a common (supposed) ancestry, iii) a common language, iv) a common culture, and v) a common religion. Definition of Nation-State has four essential elements: I) territory to govern, II) a population, III) self-government, and IV) the capacity to conduct its own foreign relations. Nothing in Condition II requires that all of the population belong to one nationality. Consociational Societies are Nation-States that a. Have a population of more than one nationality b. Have power-sharing arrangements defined in Constitutional System c. Were created as a conscious union of two or more different nationalities who agreed to power-sharing arrangement prior to forming single Nation-State and constitution. Successful Consociational Societies: Switzerland Belgium Holland/the Netherlands Less Successful Examples: Former Yugoslavia Former Czechoslovakia Lebanon Current Problematic Case: Canada What conditions characterized successful vs. less successful cases and how might Canada benefit from experience of these other cases? Canadian Case Binational Policy enacted in statutes and unwritten understandings - Heavy-handed actions by national gov't in 1970 alienate many Quebecois - OLA violated by Quebec in 1974 1982 Constitution did not define bi-nationalism Charter of Rights and Freedoms better understood as multi- nationalism (33% of population neither of British nor French origin) Federalism plus Westminster system allowed powerful regional or separatist parties to control Provinces