Types of Government Unit 3 Flashcards
What does Bureaucracy mean?
Non-elected public servants who administer government departments (e.g. Transportation, foreign relations, finance)
What is Congress?
Congress is Americas national legislative branch
What is a constitution?
A set of rules that govern the political institutions of the state, every democracy needs a constitution,
What is Parliament?
Parliament is Canadas federal legislative branch
What is party discipline?
When MPs should be voting alone party lines; if they feel that they must vote against party policy they can quit the party and sit in the house as an independent
What is Patronage?
The granting of political favours; the practice of appointing political supporters to public office or to desirable positions on public boards, commissions, or committees
What is Royal assent?
Approval by the monarch or monarchs representative that turns a bill passed by a legislature into law.
What is Cabinet solidarity?
A principle that members of the cabinet do not disagree publicly with government policy
What does impeach mean?
It is to charge with misconduct to any elected official if needed
What is a filibuster?
The use of irregular or obstructive tactics by members of a legislature, specifically the US senate, to prevent the passage of a bill
What is Judicial restraint?
Is interpretation of the law literally and are hesitant to apply new interpretations
What is Judicial Activism?
A willingness to interpret the law I’m such a way that it can be adapted to changing circumstances
What is Judicial Review?
Judges have the power to strike down legislation that disregards the constitution
What is devolution?
The transfer of power from a central government to regional or local governments
What is gerrymandering?
The manipulation of constituency boundaries to maximize popular support for one party
What is recall?
A voting mechanism that allows citizens to recall from office a politician who has been unresponsive to the needs of constituents
What does initiative mean?
A petition submitted by citizens to force a vote on particular issue
What is the role of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of democratic governments?
Legislative: -debates, proposes, Amends, and vote on bills
-represents the interests and concerns of their constituents
-holds government
-divided into two chambers
Judicial:-interprets and apply laws through court cases and decisions
-can strike down laws that are unconstitutional
Executive:-Implements and enforces laws
-Manages the administration of government policies and programs
Why is Beron de Montesquieu significant?
-French political thinker
-his ideas influenced the creation of the US constitution
What is the difference between the British parliamentary system compared to the American presidential system?
British parliament:-the executive and legislative branches of government are fused
-prime minister is a chief member of the House of Commons
American system:-executive and legislative branches of government are separate
-president is not involved with activities of congress
What is the difference between a written constitution and an unwritten one?
Written constitution: single formal document that clearly outlines the laws and principles by which a country is governed (e.g US constitution)
Unwritten constitution: not contained in a single, formal document. Instead, it is based on customs, traditions, judicial decisions, and various written laws (e.g British constitution)
Describe Canadas constitution
Written component is made up of two acts: -British North America act, describe the structure of Canadas government and the power of federal and provincial governments
-constitution act 1982, contains the constitution, the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms and an amending formula
Are Canadas and the US’ legislative branch unicameral or bicameral?
Both are bicameral as they both have two legislative chambers
How are MPs selected and how many are there?
MPs are selected based on representation by selection, each MP represents a geographic area with a certain number of voters, there are 338 members of prliament
What happens to MPs that break discipline? How often does this happen?
They are denied promotions, demoted, and can be ejected from the party, it is rare for MPs to break disipline
Whats the purpose of the senate?How many senators are in both the US and canadian senates?
The Senate is responsible for drafting, debating,and voting on bills, can propose and vote on amendments to bills. In the US system there is 100 senators and 105 senators in the Canadian senate.
What is the Triple-E senate?
Stood for “Elected,Equal, and Effective” it is described as asystem where senators are elected by the populatiob not appointed. All provinces should have an equal member of senators finally it was believed that the senate should be stronger to be more effective.
difference between formal and political executive
Formal executive: responsibilities are mostly ceremonial, usually does whatever the elected government recomends
Political executive: Made up of Prime minister, cabinet and the bureaucracy, create by yhe party with the most seats in the legislature
What is the role of the Governor General?
-Head of state
-Appointed for 5 years
-performs ceremonial duties
-Signs bills passed by Parliament - royal assent
What is the Electoral college? How does it work?
The Electoral college is the selection of electors, the meeting of electors (where they vote for President and VP), The counting of electoral votes by congress
What is the purpose of the cabinet? How many cabinet ministers do we have?
We have 30 Ministers. The purpose of the cabinet is to spread responsibility of the government through the party and to make the PMs job easeier
What does it mean to shuffle the cabinet?
Process in which the Prime Minister reassigns or changes the positions of cabinet ministers
What are the purposes of standing commities?
-Permanent subgroups within a legislative body
-When a bill is introduced in the House or Senate it is usually refered to the relevant standing committie for review,amendment,and debate
How many U.S. presidents have been impeached? How many have been convicted?
4 presidents have been impeached, none have been convicted
What is the highest court in Canada and the U.S.?
The Supreme Court is the highest in both countries
What is the difference between a unitary system and a federal system?
UNitary system is a democratic system in which one central authority makes decisions for all regions of the country while in a federal system constitutional power is shared amongst a national government, and or local or regional government
Why is a unitary system not posible in canada?
Not posible in canada due to the countrys history, its diverse population, and the strong desire for provincial autonomy
What is the proper order of how a bill becomes a law?
- Problem
- Minister Solution
- Cabinet discussion
- First Reading
- Second Reading
- Committie Discussion
- Third Reading
- The Senate
9.The Governor General
