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ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>Chop Here>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ HISTORY NOTES ------------- Mass Media: The method of communication with which we are likely to be most familiar. This includes radio, television, newspapers and magazines. Sometimes it is simply called the press. The Press not only reveals what people are thinking and what is happening. It also helps to shape public opinion on important issues.When the press prints the news it also makes the news. In reporting the news and in helping to form public opinion, the press uses many aproaches. It sends reporters to interview "people on the street" on important issues or events. The press also makes sure that information flows in more than one direction. It is through the press that govt let people know what they are thinking and why they have adopted policies. Presure Groups: Pressure groups are less well known than mass media. But they are also effective in helping to bridge the gap between the political environment and the people in government who make decisions. A presure group is made up of like-minded people who have organized themselves to bring pressure on the govt. There are many kinds of groups. Most have a particular interest to put forward or to protect. example: Canadian Medical Association and Canadian Bankers Associa- tion and trade unions. Some pressure groups are organized on a permanent basis. They have large staffs that work to make sure that the govt is always aware of the wishes and concerns of the group. Other pressure groups are organized for a specific and limited purpose. All pressure groups use the same tactics to try to get the govt to accept their demands The make their views known in print. They appear on television and radio programs. Seldom is any pressure group ignored by the govt if it represents a significant bloc of voters or if the group is concerned with an issue that could lead to a weakening of the party's hold on power. Women's vote: Until the 20th century it seemed to be assumed, at least by men that only men should have the right to vote. Women in Manitoba got the vote in 1916. By 1922 all provinces except Quebec had followed Manitoba's example. In 1918 the Federal Government gave the women the right to vote. Not until 1940, were women allowed to vote in Quebec provincial election. Majority Rule: Most Canadians accept the principle that in the democracy the government should represent a majority of citizens. In other words the majority should rule. It has often happened in Canada and elsewhere that the government represents the choice of fewer than half the voters who went to the polls. Moreover the number of seats in the political party holds in the House of Commons often does not reflect the number of votes the party receives. A margin of one vote is as good as one of ten thousand in winning an election. Secret Ballot: The secret ballot is essential in the democracy. In 1967 when Canada was formed, voting was carried by word of mouth or by show of hand. The system was open to many abuses. Some employers for example threatened employees who did not see policies in the "right light". The secret ballot prevented abuses such as bribes and threats. To increase the voters' freedom of choice the Liberal Govt. of Alexander Mackencie introduced the secret ballot in 1984. This was just two years after Prime Minister Gladstone had done so in England. In both countries there was strong opposition to the change from open to secret voting. Many people felt that no men should be ashamed of his political beliefs. They agreed that Sir John A. Macdonald that voting in secret was "un-British". Women's lack of representation: Women have had the right to run for office since they receive the vote over sixty years ago. Yet as the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women observed in 1970 of the 6,845 perople elected in federal and provincial elections between 1917 and 1970, only 67 were women. This situation is improving gradually in politics as in other areas. Between the years 1920 and 1970, for example, there were onlyu 18 women elected in total in the House of Common. Forty-nine were elected by the provincial legislature. In the summer of 1982 there were 50 women in the House of Common and 49 among the 678 members of the provincial legislatures but 7% of the total is still from a reasonable representation of half the Canadian population. Largely as a result of pressure from women it is now assumed that there will be women in every fedreal and provincial cabinet. There may be many reasons why women should run for office than do men. Yet even in the appointed Senate they are under-represented. The British North America Act stated that any qualified "persons" could be a member of the Senate. In 1928 the word "person" apparently did not include women. We have not yet had a woman as a Prime Minister. Several women have come close. In 1975 Rose Mary Brown a member of the British Columbia legilative assembly, was narrowly defeated by the federal new democratic party leadership by Edward Broadbent. Middle of the Road: To put in another way in their attempts to win the broadest measure of support from all classes of people and all sections of the country political parties tend to move toward the middle of the road. That is they move toward the political centre avoiding extreme position on the political "left" or "right". Where possible they tried to force opponents into the ditch on either the left or the right. Once a party has won solid support in an election through its middle of the road policy it is hard to remove that party from the office. It has advantages over its rivals. It chooses the time of the next election. It has government jobs and other favours to hand out and generally it can choose the campaign issues that show it in the best light. Back benchers: The members of the governing party who are not in the cabinet are called back benchers because their seats in the House are behind those of the Minister's. The back benchers want to be able to support government or cabinet policies. They do not want to see their party defeated. The know very well the opinions of people who elect them and they do not want the government to adopt policies that go against such views. They also have opportunities to discuss policies and porblems with the Minister concerned. Sometimes back benchers are unable to agree with a government porposal and will vote against their leaders. If their disagreement is strong and basic they may even resign from the party. Opposition: The opposition parties also play a vital role in the House of Common. During its debates they examine and criticize govt policies. The leader of the political party with the second largest numbers of seats in the House is called the Leader of the Opposition. The other opposition parties try to put the govt. on the defensive, to make it more ineffective. Opposition members are also included in standing committees. The look closely at the smallest detail of the bill. As a result the govt may change features of the bill to improve it. But the major objective of the opposition party is not to help the govt work better. The main concern is to convince the public that they and not the govt should be running the country. Question Period: The question period is a period that takes place every afternoon when the House meets for one four. During the question period the opposition controls what goes on in the Commons. They may ask questions of the Ministers and Cabinet Ministers on almost any topic they wish. They try to trap ministers into making statements that have not been thought out carefully. The probing that takes place during the question period supplies much of the material we read in the newspapers or watch on the television. Certainly the hour in the afternoon is most interesting and often the most important period offo the Commons'debates. No good parliamentary reporter would miss a question period. The Executive Control: The cabinet is important first of all because it is a real executive of the country. As a rule it controls a majority in the legislature. The cabinet decides what policies the govt. will follow. In addition to its responsibility for almost all legislations the cabinet also has the power to make laws in the form of orders in council. These orders must be formally approved by the Governor General, must fall within a power given to the govt by-law passed by parliament. But in many cases the law is very general, and gives a cabinet very wide powers in issue rules and regulations in the form of orders in council. Collective Responsibility: This means that the Cabinet Minister in private may disagree on what is the best policy to follow. Once the cabinet makes its decision, however, every minister must support that decision and takes responsibility for it. If a cabinet minister cannot support a decision, the only alternative is to resign from the cabinet. Social Change in Politics: change in Politics according to the society. Issue: A problem created by the people that is to be solved by the govt. Governor General: Represents the Queen or Monarch. Hen is the head of the executive. Neither the queen or the Governor General can act on their own. Their main task in government is to give formal approval to measures presented to them by the prime minister and cabinet. The prime minister and cabinet ministers are the real executive in Canada. Cabinet (executive),Commons (legislature) Who makes laws in Canada: The answer is Parliament. In Canada that means that the laws are made by the Queen (Governor General), Senate, and the House of Commons. This answer is correct, but it does not explain the process of law-making in Canada. A law is the end product of a very complex process. A law, also known as a statute, begins as a bill. A bill becomes a law only after Parliament has approved it. Political Power: A second reason for the Cabinet's power is that the prime minister and cabinet minister are the leading members of the party in power. The prime minister is prime minister because he or she is the leader of the victorious political party. The prime minister chooses members of the Cabinet from amoung the leading members of the party. Usually there is at least one member from every provinces. Political Spectrum: Left side of the scale is Socialism, the Right hand side is Conservative. Conservative are the rich that have power. Conservatives are for free enterprise. Socialism re-distribute the money to the people so everyone will have the same amount of money. MST/GST: MST is the old tax. GST is the tax that will replace MST. GST benefits the rich but not the poor. The rich benefit because there are many "loop-holes" in the GST. The rich do not have to pay as much tax because of the loop-holes while the poor pay more tax. The GST lowers the income tax but this does not really benefit the poor because they do not really make too much money in which they need to pay alot of income tax anyway. This benefits the rich because they make alot of money. A lower income tax means that the rich do not have to pay as much tax for all the money that they make. Constitution: this word means the basic principals, laws, and rules under which the country is governed. Constitutions usually say what the powers and duties of the govt are and what the rights of the people are. Some constitutions like the US are almost completely "written". This means that the principals and laws by which th American government functions are set down on one document. The constitution of Canada is both written and unwritten. The "written" part of Canada's constitution is the Canada Act, 1982. On April 17, 1982 in Ottawa, Canada's Queen Elizabeth 2, signed this historic act into law. To a large extent, the system of Reaponsible government is part of Canada's "unwritten" constitution. No one document created responsible government, or describes how it will work. When we speak pf the Canadian constitution, we mean the whole system of govt in Canada. This includes parliamentary and cabinet govt, the federal system, the rule of law and democracy. Conservative: The rich people have the power. They are for business. They support free enterprise. You get to keep the money that you make. Don't care about labour much. Socialist: Concerned about labour. Are not "For" labour. They support socialism. They re-distribute the wealth in the country. Even out the rich and the poor. Benefits the poor and middle class more than the rich. liberal: They even out the Conservative and the socialist. They are in the middle or in other words they are neutral. They do not support any particular thing like business or labour. Party Platform: The policies of the party.