POLI 410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Dominant-Party System, Provincial Rights Party, Official Multilingualism
15 Jun 2018
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POLI410 Liberal Party Lecture Notes
Story of Liberal Dominance
- Considered to be one of the most dominant political institutions in the democratic world
o Surprising because it's a centre party - which makes it difficult to dominate
- atural goerig party
- key in the development and evolution of Canada (geographical, institutional, values)
o confederation, Charter, Constitution
o rise of right-based language and values
o negotiated with Labrador and newfoundland
o because of liberal dominance biggest impact in all areas of Canadian political life
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- liberal dominance has slowly decreased over time
- dominance has also been interrupted by four devastating election losses (1911, 1958,
1984, 2011)
o 20th C rise to power in Laurier
o consistent across time and over the 100 years
o during those times, reduced to nothing – 2011 reduced to 34 seats
o 1984 reduced to 40 seats and was the biggest lost ever in that time
- usually it will dominate and then completely annihilated
- but noted that it can rehabilitate itself in a relatively short period of time and remerge in
the political landscape
- each defeat creates a blow to longevity over time
Extent of Liberal dominance
- over the 20th C, the LP has been in office 3 quarters of the time
o form government 7/10 years (23 times)
o dominance rose with the extension of suffrage
- this has made the LP one of the most successful democratic institutions
o not because of its dominance (many parties have wholly dominated politics in
Liberal-esque ways)
o but because of the extraordinary longevity of its dominance
- but it has not always bee easy
o does not come easy
how has the liberal party maintained dominance?
1. Quebec
a. 1891 won Quebec for the first time
b. shortly after that won every seat in Quebec
c. said it could broker the interest of English and French Canada
2. Electoral system
a. Regularly awards with disproportionately large amount of seats relative to the
popular vote
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b. JT more than 50% of seats but just 39% of votes
3. Ability to change and react
a. Change coalition of voters over time has lead to its dominance
Limits to liberal dominance
1. Sweeping dominance came to an end in 1980s
a. Rise of multi-party system
b. Fragmentation of liberal party
2. Provincial level
a. Not dominated at this level as it has at the federal level
b. Only half the provinces can they hold off have the time
c. They hold off less here and also less likely to re-win at the provincial level
3. Decline in popular support over time
a. Liberal party much less national than it used to be
b. Increasingly rely on voters
c. Ontario and GTA a big part of the electoral coalition, but Quebec as well
Four Eras, 4 Liberal Parties
- Kenneth Carty 2015: looking at liberal party from 1900-2000
o Argues each era one was broken up by the conservatives sweeping election, this
also seems to hold post-2000
o Each of these electoral defeat were democratic with the LP being reduced to
new historic lows in popular support ad seats
- And while the LP manages to recover, each conservative landslide drives the liberal base
down to a successively smaller vote share
- 2015 re-emergence could come to this fact
Era #1 1896-1910
- dominated by Wilfred Laurier
o mandate of bringing the French and English together
o claim to broker the linguistic and cultural divide
o wins on platform of provincial rights, decentralized federation
o introduces regional representation within Cabinet
- widespread dominance
o conservatives lost: role of conscription, execution of louis riel
- pragmatism and Patronage
o created royal navy rather than contributing to British navy
o anti-imperialist
o pro-US trade
o business-minded in Ontario
o defeat in 1911
o patronage: pay for access
Era #2 1926-1953
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find more resources at oneclass.com
