Canada has one of the most highly respected democracies in the world. With democratic systems widely spread throughout the country, the politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of government. Canada follows a multi-party system where many of its legislative practices are derived from the United Kingdom’s Westminster Parliament. Canada has three governmental institutions: federal, provincial and municipal. The federal level of government consists of the Prime Minister, the House of Commons, the members of Parliament, and the Senate. The provincial level of government is led by the premier, who elects MPPs to serve as ministers in the cabinet. The municipal level of government provides local
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This book depicts Canada’s different levels of government as “political theatre.” Jeffrey Simpson is a respected veteran columnist for the Globe and Mail, who published this book in 2001. The publication date of fifteen years ago demonstrates how long the problem of the democratic deficit has been prevalent. Simpson’s novel and White’s journal article both speak of the lack of media coverage of the legislature, meaning that when a Prime Minister vetoes a bill, there is rarely media coverage. This leaves citizens uninformed on what is taking place within their democratic government. Graham White mentions that in a study on democratic deficit, Canada was ranked first among 22 countries, meaning that the issue is most prevalent in Canada. In addition, when comparing democracy to economics, Graham White states that Canada has not had a “balanced budget” since the …show more content…
The majority of his information comes from previous articles and many studies published by writer Donald Savoie. Because Savoie has published so much on the topic of democratic deficit, it is necessary to question the strength of his arguments. White’s article fails to see centralized power as a potential positive for society. Elected parties should be able to execute their campaign promises with minimal pushback from the members of parliament, causing democratic deficit but also allowing the people to get what the Prime Minister previously promised. Questions that should be asked are, is centralized power poor democratic practice? Or does it just allow for the party in power to pass bills quickly? The authors most interesting question is “how extensive is the control exercised by a First Minister and his or her immediate circle of advisors and aides over important institutions beyond cabinet and parliament – the senior bureaucracy, the government, and the media?”. Research in the field would allow these questions of the unknowns of internal Canadian democratic practices to be answered after being asked for over two
This book depicts Canada’s different levels of government as “political theatre.” Jeffrey Simpson is a respected veteran columnist for the Globe and Mail, who published this book in 2001. The publication date of fifteen years ago demonstrates how long the problem of the democratic deficit has been prevalent. Simpson’s novel and White’s journal article both speak of the lack of media coverage of the legislature, meaning that when a Prime Minister vetoes a bill, there is rarely media coverage. This leaves citizens uninformed on what is taking place within their democratic government. Graham White mentions that in a study on democratic deficit, Canada was ranked first among 22 countries, meaning that the issue is most prevalent in Canada. In addition, when comparing democracy to economics, Graham White states that Canada has not had a “balanced budget” since the …show more content…
The majority of his information comes from previous articles and many studies published by writer Donald Savoie. Because Savoie has published so much on the topic of democratic deficit, it is necessary to question the strength of his arguments. White’s article fails to see centralized power as a potential positive for society. Elected parties should be able to execute their campaign promises with minimal pushback from the members of parliament, causing democratic deficit but also allowing the people to get what the Prime Minister previously promised. Questions that should be asked are, is centralized power poor democratic practice? Or does it just allow for the party in power to pass bills quickly? The authors most interesting question is “how extensive is the control exercised by a First Minister and his or her immediate circle of advisors and aides over important institutions beyond cabinet and parliament – the senior bureaucracy, the government, and the media?”. Research in the field would allow these questions of the unknowns of internal Canadian democratic practices to be answered after being asked for over two