Political Science 2230E Chapter 1: CEA, “Democratic Reform: From Campaign Promise to Policy Change,” 10-11. – Maxwell A Cameron
27 Dec 2018
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Cea, democratic reform: from campaign promise to policy change, 10-11. Trudeau and his party accepted and responded to complaints about the dysfunction of the democratic system. Many of the changes outlined in the liberal party platform could be implemented unilaterally and without di cult negotiations. But caution is in order on the subject of political reform. Opposition parties tend to talk enthusiastically about democratic reform while in opposition, yet rarely deliver once in government. The liberal party directly bene ted from the rst-past-the-post (fptp) system. The 42 parliament o ers another example of what peter h. russell (2008: 5-6) calls a false ma jority government. Liberal candi- dates won less than 40% of the vote, yet they captured 54% of the seats. If seats were allocated in proportion to votes, the liberals would have won something like 135 seats rather than 184.
