POLI 410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Canadian Federal Election, 2011, Party System, Style Guide
15 Jun 2018
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POLI410 Electoral Systems and Party Politics Lecture Notes
Proposal Feedback
- Do research
- Context, RQs, arguments must fit together
- Style guide
- Content – research question – argument
- Citations
Midterm
- Two parts: shower answer 40%
o Outline and define 3/5 concepts
o ½ - 1 page each
- essay: 60%
o questions emailed out Friday afternoon (prepare answer for 1/2)
o must have a thesis statement, arguments
o designed to bring in authors/concepts/arguments across different weeks
o breadth in answer but also picking the right people to speak to the question
- what it covers, everything until Feb 22 (Tuesday), readings and lectures
o ideology
▪ different theories, relation to party politics
o political culture
▪ what explains it, main arguments
o political party (definition)
o party systems
o three main parties
▪ defining characteristics
o electoral systems (and its effect on parties)
Alan Cairns
- examines electoral trends from 1921-1965
o but a staple in Canadian politics, it becomes more true as the 90s progress, rise
of regional parties
o look at parties through the SMP system
- internal tensions, risk of over-emphasizing elements of parties
- electoral system creates advantages for certain parties
o Liberal dominance – result of dominance in Quebec
- Look at institutional element of parties – the structure in which parties operate have a
fundamental implications
- fous o Caada’s “MP eletoal syste ad its elatioship to paties
o institutions create feedback and path dependency, exacerbates some things and
diminishes others
- characteristics of SMP system:
o winner take all
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ @ level of constituents, the winner will take it all
▪ no benefit of having high share of popular vote or for being second
o iflate goeet paty’s seats
▪ whoever is in government – inflated
▪ not an impartial translation of votes into seats like PR system
▪ discrimination in favour of the strongest party and the weak regionally
based parties
▪ the party that comes in 2nd the most disadvantaged in the system
o encourages minor parties with sectional strongholds
▪ most notable, discourages minor parties with diffused support
▪ sectionalism: our society is divided in certain issues, notably regionalism,
the French-English divide
• political culture, language
▪ sectionalism affects all parties, benefits and disadvantages some
▪ even the most dominant parties suffer from the results of sectionalism
▪ eg. Liberal party not winning seats in Alberta even though they dominate
overall
- 2011 Canadian federal election
o popular vote and seats differ
o the party that wins the election benefits from the electoral system (vote boost),
seat # higher than the % of popular votes
o NDP slightly advantaged due to breakthrough in Quebec
- 2015 federal election
o Liberal party gets 40% of popular vote but around 55% of the seats
o Conservatives get 29% of seats and 31 % of vote
To Coo Assuptios ade aout Caada’s eletoal syste:
- That the influence of the electoral system on the party system has been unimportant or
non-existent
o Should be looking at parties and voting behaviour instead
o Electoral system is of secondary importance
o Critique: SMP does not diminish, but perpetuates division – but that electoral
systems actually are the most important thinks that dictate political parties
- That the party system has been an important nationalizing agency with respect to the
sectional cleavages
o Nationalization and creates stability and strong government – through inflation
of seats
o Creates less division throughout society
o Prevents rise of ethnic nationalist parties
- Following this, explosion of institutionalism analysis (vs. individual behaviour)
- Ideology a function of the political system
Cai’s Citiue
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Poli410 electoral systems and party politics lecture notes. Two parts: shower answer 40: outline and define 3/5 concepts, - 1 page each. Electoral system creates advantages for certain parties: liberal dominance result of dominance in quebec. 2015 federal election: liberal party gets 40% of popular vote but around 55% of the seats, conservatives get 29% of seats and 31 % of vote. T(cid:449)o co(cid:373)(cid:373)o(cid:374) assu(cid:373)ptio(cid:374)s (cid:373)ade a(cid:271)out ca(cid:374)ada"s ele(cid:272)to(cid:396)al syste(cid:373): Following this, explosion of institutionalism analysis (vs. individual behaviour) Cai(cid:396)(cid:374)"s fo(cid:396)(cid:449)a(cid:396)ds a(cid:374) i(cid:374)stitutio(cid:374)al a(cid:396)gu(cid:373)e(cid:374)t: the idea that institutions effect party organization and ideology, this is very different than horowitz, for example. Conservatives as anti-french: because of advantages of stoking divisions, became strategy in campaigns to stoke divisions, (cid:862)let those easte(cid:396)(cid:374) (cid:271)asta(cid:396)ds f(cid:396)eeze i(cid:374) hell(cid:863) western liberation. Cai(cid:396)(cid:374)s" (cid:271)(cid:396)oad a(cid:396)gu(cid:373)e(cid:374)t is that the se(cid:272)tio(cid:374)al (cid:374)atu(cid:396)e of pa(cid:396)ties, due to mp syste(cid:373), renders members of parliamentary party less sensitive to the interest of the unrepresented sections that they otherwise would be: eg.
