Democratic Dictatorship Analysis

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Democratic Dictatorship? The Power of the Prime Minister in Canada
Recently in Canada, it is being debated if the power that the Prime Minister holds has become stronger. Section 9 and 10 of the Constitution Act of 1867 declares the Queen and Governor as the ones who possess executive power, when today in practice, that power is found within the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The era of Pierre Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister has been referred to as the period when the checks and balances began to grow weaker due to the changes and transformations that were made, but other critics believe that the system of a fusion of powers still acts as a check on Prime Ministerial power. After a thorough analysis of the power of the Prime Minister in contemporary …show more content…
63). Cabinet and central agencies are more of a reflection of the Prime Minister than the government collectively. A poll in 2004 found that the centralization of power in the PMO was the largest perceived threat to Canadian democracy (Lewis, 2013, pg. 801). Meanwhile, departments and agencies that deliver government services are controlled by agencies such as the PCO (Bakvis, 2001, pg. 63). In its 1993 publication on the machinery of government, the PCO argued that, “we operate under the theory of a confederal nature of decision-making where power flows from ministers,” but it is clear that power is neglecting to flow from ministers, but from the Prime Minister (Savoie, 2014, pg. 135). The authority that the Prime Minister holds through appointment prerogative is what the centralization of communications and policy decisions within the PMO and the PCO was created on (Lagassé, 2016, pg. …show more content…
The role of the Queen has been reduced to a symbolic role, leaving her with no significant impact concerning Canadian legislatures, and all her former executive authority with the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Within the government, there are multiple forces and procedures that consolidate the power of the Prime Minister and allowing him to monopolize this power. Finally, there is a strong hold of party discipline, ensuring that the Prime Minister has complete control over the decisions made by the party. Canadians need to be aware of the importance of centralization of power in the Prime Minister and the increased accountability of this actor, and therefore the potential implications of the way in which power is used should not be

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