Political Parties & the Party System

Political Parties & the Party System Chapter 9

Learning Objectives • Origins of Canada’s party system • Brokerage politics • Role of minor parties • Party finances

Political Party • Organized group that nominates candidates and contests elections to influence the personnel and policies of government.

Seven Functions of Parties • Integrating citizens into the political system • Developing policy • Elite recruitment • Organization of government • Structuring the vote • Organizing public opinion • Interest aggregation

Canadian Parties • First Party System, 1867-1921 • Liberals and Conservatives dominated Canadian politics. • Conservatives began in 1854 with MacDonald • Mackenzie headed the Liberal government from 1873-1878. • Went from one-party dominance of Conservatives to two-party system with Liberals and Conservatives on equal footing.

Prime Ministers, 1867-1921

Second Party System, 1921-1957 • Two-party system to a two-plus or two-and-a-half party system. • Dominated by Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent. • 1921, farmers entered with progressive candidates. • CCF formed in Calgary in 1932. • 1933, Regina Manifesto adopted. • 1935 Social Credit, 1935.

The Third Party System, 1957-1993 • Altering minority and majority governments. • NDP created in 1961. • 1980s, three-party system. • NDP was entrenched as the third national party.

Fourth Party System, 1993-? • Emergence of two new regional parties. • Multi-party system. • Canadian politics have become more regionalized.

The Broker System • Political parties are conciliators, mediators, or brokers to the cleavages in Canadian society. • They maximize their appeal to the most number of voters. • This reduces the ideological stance of the Liberals and Conservatives and underscores the fight for the middle.

Class-based Parties • The development of the CCF and the NDP underlines the theory behind class-based parties. • These parties were disenfranchised by the traditional Liberal/Conservative collusion.

One-party Dominance • The view that the Liberals are the natural governing party in Canada. • Conservatives have assumed the role of opposition party. • The NDP are labeled the innovation party.

Decline of Parties • Traditional parties have been taken over by other institutions. • Parties gear their activities to the media. • Public opinion polls serve a better role than the Members of Parliament to gauge public opinion.

Minor Parties • Factors that influence the emergence of minor parties: • Region • Ethnicity • Class • The economy • Charismatic leadership.

Rise of Minor Parties,

Party Organization • Parliamentary party, or party caucus. • Party’s elected representatives in parliament. • Extra-parliamentary party • Party activists and executive members, • Headquarters • Bureaucracy, staff • Ordinary party members

Mass Large membership Leader chosen at convention Financed on membership fees Allows membership input on policy Operates democratically Cadre Small local or national elite dominate Parliamentary party selects leaders Depends on small number of large donations Permits the parliamentary party to formulate party policy Run by elite Mass and Cadre Parties

General Structure and Operations • Conventions • Held regularly • Election of party executive, policy discussion • Leadership • Party Executive • Party Headquarters • Federal-Provincial Party Links

Iron Law of Oligarchy • Roberto Michels. • Tendency towards elitism is inevitable within all political parties. • Leaders create small group of advisors who hold majority of power. • Parliamentary wing of party claims precedence over party.

Party Ideology • Can parties be placed on a left-right continuum? • Does the scale given in the text provide better coherence. • What would your scale look like?

Political Parties & the Party System