POLI 101
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Parliamentary government
- responsible government, with ultimate authority for both the legislative and executive branches
- Emergency federalism
- the balance of power swung back towards the federal government
- Concurring opinions
- opinions written individually by judges who agree on the ruling of a case, but for different reasons
- Legislative power
- power to make law or policy
- Microcosm theory of representation
- the theory that representation should be directly representative of a society as a whole
- Delegates
- spokespersons who faithfully transmit the views of the majority of the people who elect them
- Tyranny
- self-interest leadership of a single corrupted leader
- Line departments
- provide services of some sort to the general public
- Letters Patent
- grants the governor general the right to exercise all powers and authorities lawfully belonging to the Crown in respect of Canada
- Federal spending power
- Ottawa's power to spend its money as it pleases
- Oligarchy
- corrupted leadership by a small group of people, driven by self-interest
- Tyranny of the majority
- distrust of democracy—majority rule doesn't always respect minorities
- Constitutional monarchy
- a reime which is monarchical by law, but democratic by convention
- Patriate
- transfer controls over a constitution from a mother country to its former dependency
- Section 92 courts
- inferior courts, dealing with smaller claims
- Constitutional Law
- more comprehensive than organic statutes with a more absolute authority
- Social Union Framework
- Ottawa's agreement not to introduce new shared-cost programs in provincial jurisdictions without first obtaining the approval of seven provinces which, taken together, have 50 percent of the total Canadian population
- Democracy
- leadership by a large group of people, believed to be unjust because the many tend to oppress the few
- Kingship
- just leadership by a single person, committed to the greater good
- Judicial independence
- judicial branch must be independent of the executive branch of a regime
- Harm principle
- things should only be made illegal in prevention of harm to others
- First reading
- introduces the bill to the House and gives members a chance to acquaint themselves with its provisions
- The Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- appointed advisors to the governor general and prime minister, the current group being called the Cabinet
- Government bills
- bills proposed to the house by a Minister
- Ethics commissioner
- investigates ethical propriety of actions involving cabinet ministers and the prime minister himself
- Speaker
- an MP elected by the house to preside over debates and take responsibility for administration
- Decentralized
- a federal union in which the provincial governments have high levels of power
- Deputy prime minister
- second-in-command to the prime minister, historically exercising little real power
- Bicameralism
- a legislative body where power is shared by two separate chambers so that neither can act without the agreement of the other
- Utilitarianism
- Doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of the majority
- Rule of law
- no one is above the law, it should be applied equally and impartially
- Direct democracies
- means taken to achieve decisions directly from the people
- Conditional grant
- money granted to the province base on conditions from the federal government
- Natural rights
- universal human rights
- Aristocracy
- leadership by a small group of just people, committed to the greater good
- Auditor-General
- reviews government spending to ensure nothing illegal is happening
- Royal-assent
- governor general's constitutional formality of approving a bill
- Plurality
- the person with the most votes wins
- Direct tax
- the taxpayer is directly taxed by the government
- Report stage
- a committee studies the bill and the reports to the house with its findings
- Second reading
- focuses on the basic purposes and principles of the bill
- Confidence
- the support of the house
- Notwithstanding clause
- provides that government may pass a law and declare it to be valid in spite of the guarantees offered by sections 2 and 7-15 of the Charter
- Regime
- a system of rule or ruling
- Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- Britain's highest court
- Impartiality
- judges must be free of prejudice for or against any party appearing before them
- Constitutional Convention
- constitutional rule based on implicit political agreement and enforced in the political arena rather than the courts
- Indirect tax
- the tax is not collected directly from the taxpayer
- Dissolution
- the governor general's calling for a general election
- Privy council office (PCO)
- serves a secreteriat to the cabinet
- Veto
- a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body
- Liberalism
- favouring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform
- Bills
- legislative proposals
- Sargeant-at-arms
- a distinguished military figure responsible for security of the House
- Parliamentary democracy
- form of representative government, with a constitution similar in principle to that of the UK
- Equalization payments
- payments given to provinces who fall under the Canadian economic average
- Dissenting opinion
- opinion written by the judges siding with the minority when a decision is not unanimous
- Unconditional grants
- grants given to the provinces by the federal government regardless of use or circumstance
- Sections 91 & 92
- establish the exclusive legislative jurisdictions of Ottawa and the provinces respectively
- Minority government
- a situation in which the party that forms the government has less than half the seats in the house
- Throne speech
- speech delivered by the governor general (but prepared by the prime minister's staff) outlining the upcoming intended proposals for legislative government
- Reserve power
- responsibility of the governor general to ensure that Her Majesty has a government that has the confidence of the House.
- Prorogation
- the governor general's declaration of the end of a session
- Resolutions
- differs from a bill in that it merely expresses the opinion of the House
- Section 96 courts
- superior courts, dealing with criminal offenses and larger claims
- Ministerial responsibility
- the minister of each department is accountable to the House for actions of all civil servants in his or her department
- Executive power
- power to execute or administer that law or policy
- Precedents
- previous judicial decisions on the same point of law
- Entrenchment
- fundamental political principles that people want to ensure are inviolable, so they ENTRENCH them into the text of constitutional law
- Bill of Rights
- an organic statute issued in 1960 to recognize human rights and fundamental freedoms
- Federal government
- sovereign authority is constitutionally divided between two levels of government
- Integrated judicial system
- single system under joint custody of the two levels of government
- Proclaimed
- when a bill is transformed from legislative proposal to a binding law or "statute"
- Disallowance
- the federal government can annul provincial legislation of which it disapproves
- Responsible government
- a regime in which legislative and executive power are fused together in a cabinet which is accountable to an assembly of the people's elected representatives
- Classical federalism
- the balance of power clearly shifted to a more equal relationship between the provinces and Ottawa
- Cabinet government
- the reality of our government system where most authority is placed in the hands of the executive branch
- Separation of powers
- ensures that legislative and executive powers are assigned to separate people or bodies
- Reference procedure
- the court can be called upon to give its opinion on the constitutionality of specific decisions or statutes
- Fiscal federalism
- the branches created to help appropriately finance provinces to balance their needs
- Unitary government
- a system in which all sovereign authority of that nation-state resides in one governing body—the national government.
- Standing Orders
- basic regulations concerning the organization of the House's business and the conduct of its debates
- Private sphere
- a sphere of human thought & action that is private, and within that, all individuals have the right to make choices for themselves
- Section 1
- considered to be a giant constitutional loophole, "guaranteeing" rights to Canadians, but with limitations
- Majority government
- a situation in which the party that forms the government has over half the seats in the house
- Preamble
- an introduction stating the reasons for the act that follows
- Single-member plurality (SMP)
- electoral system when a country is divided into a number of electoral districts
- Centralized
- a federal union in which the federal government will dominate
- Riding
- a territorially based constituency, divided to properly represent population
- Closure
- permits the government to cut off its debate if it decides the opposition is taking too much time
- Caucus
- the members of each party
- Majority opinion
- opinion written by the judges who sided with the majority on a case when the decision is not unanimous
- Stare decisis
- to stand decided
- Prime minister's office (PMO)
- responsible for monitering political situations and giving the prime minister political advice
- Collective responsibility
- each minister shares responsibility for all policy decisions made
- Representative democracy
- indirect democracy—popular rule. Those elected have accountability to the people as a whole
- Liberty
- freedom of choice (within the bounds of the law), freedom within the private sphere
- Quasi-federalism
- the national government proved much stronger than the provincial
- Trustees
- people elected for their character and judgment and are free to decide for themselves how to vote on an issue
- Constitutionalism
- adherence to a government relating to an established set of principles
- Political equality
- a relatively equal role in political rule—does not mean social or economic equality
- Organic statutes
- Non-constitutional act of authoritative legislative body
- Cooperative federalism
- both levels of government often supply services in each other's jurisdiction (also known as EXECUTIVE FEDERALISM)
- Clerk of the House
- takes responsibility for official paperwork of the House
- Polity
- leadership by broad participation and commitment to the common good
- Fusion of powers
- legislative and executive branches of government are fused rather than separated
- Clarity Act
- reserves the right to determine whether a "question" and a "majority" are clear for Parliament alone
- Section 101 courts
- federally created courts with federally appointed judges
- Judicial power
- power to settle questions about specific violations of law and to choose a suitable punishment from among those permitted in the relevant legislation for those found guilty
- Third reading
- final reading before the bill proceeds to the Senate
- Republican
- supporters of a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives
- Hansard
- official record kept of House debates