Understanding Government Unit Final Flashcards

1
Q

what is a dictatorship?

A

A government that uses violence, indoctrination, censorship, propaganda, and scapegoating to control is people

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2
Q

Which has higher government control: socialism or conservatism?

A

socialism

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3
Q

What is the constitution?

A

a law that describes Canadas government and helps to set out the important Canadian institutes

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4
Q

who/what is the Monarch?

A
  • approve bills before they become official laws
  • represented by governer general
  • part of legislative and executive branch
  • formal head of state
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5
Q

What is the legislative branch?

A

the area of government where laws are made

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6
Q

what is the executive branch?

A

The branch that proposes laws and puts them into action as well as runs day to business of government

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7
Q

Who is the senate?

A

people who represent the interests and rights of Canada’s regions in order to bring more perspective into government.

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8
Q

what is the senate’s role?

A

to the double-check bills before they go through to receive royal assent

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9
Q

how are senators chosen?

A

they are not elected but are instead chosen by the prime minister

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10
Q

what is the role of the house of commons?

A

to debate, study and vote on bills/laws as well as create legislation for the peace order and good of government

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11
Q

Who makes up the house of commons?

A

MP’s who are elected by members of their riding

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12
Q

What are the main roles of the prime minister?

A
  • choosing the cabinet ministers
  • heading Canada’s government system
  • deciding what portfolios should be included within the cabinet
  • helping to run the day to day business of government
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13
Q

How many cabinet ministers are there and which party do they belong to?

A

There are 31 cabinet ministers who all belong to the leading party. They are all MP’s and are chosen by the prime minister

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14
Q

What are cabinet ministers responsible for?

A

Each cabinet minister has a specialty in their own department. As a collective, they are responsible for a variety of various government departments

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15
Q

Why is the judicial branch separate from the legislative and executive branches of government?

A

to avoid corruption and influence in the decision-making process from political parties

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16
Q

what is the role of the judicial branch?

A

to interperate and apply laws as well as administer justice

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17
Q

What is the supreme court of Canada?

A

the supreme court of Canada is the highest level of court in the country. They have the final word on all questions about law within the country as well as the final word on the making and appliance of new laws.

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18
Q

What is a riding?

A

an area or electoral district that defines a group of constituents

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19
Q

how many ridings are in Canada?

A

338

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20
Q

what is a constituent?

A

Someone who is eligible to vote

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21
Q

Define candidate

A

a person running in an election

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22
Q

what is a political party?

A

a group of people who share the same political beliefs

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23
Q

Define a majority government

A

when the winning party occupies more than half of the seats within the house of commons

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24
Q

define a minority government

A

when the winning party occupies less than half of the seats within the house of commons

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25
Q

What is first past the post?

A

a voting system where the party with the most elected MP’s forms government

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26
Q

how are ridings structured?

A

by population

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27
Q

where does the official opposition always sit within the house of commons?

A

opposit to the governement in power

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28
Q

what must the leading party do in order to remain their power when in a minority government?

A

form co-elitions with other parties

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29
Q

what are the three main ways parties campaign before an election?

A

the use of posters, videos and swag

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30
Q

define quality of life

A

a measure of personal and collective well being

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31
Q

what is an individual identity?

A

an identity based on your personal interests, experiences and from the many roles you have as an individual

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32
Q

what is collective identity?

A

an identity based on a sense of belonging to a certain group of people especially because of a common language, culture and history

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33
Q

define perspective

A

point of view

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34
Q

define bias

A

when someone is in favour or against an idea or thing in a way that is closeminded, prejudicial or unfair

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35
Q

what happens during the first reading of a bill?

A

The title of the bill is read, it receives a number and then is printed

36
Q

what happens during the second reading of a bill?

A

The members of parliament debate and vote on the principle of the bill

37
Q

What happens in the committee stage of the ‘bill to a law’ process?

A

relevant parliament commitees examine the bill and the bill is then studied clause by clause

38
Q

What happens in the report stage of the ‘bill to a law’ process?

A

a relevant party committee reports amends of the bill which are then considered and voted on

39
Q

what happens in the third reading of a bill?

A

members of parliament debate and vote on the amended bill

40
Q

what happens after the third reading of a bill within the house of commons?

A

the same process is then repeated within the senate

41
Q

what is royal assent?

A

the process that is granted by the governor-general or one of their deputies after the bill has been passed by both chambers. It allows the bill to now become an official law

42
Q

where do ideas for new bills/laws come from?

A

citizens of Canada can bring ideas for new bills/laws to the table but they must be represented by a member of government within the house of commons

43
Q

How does a bill become a law?

A

it must receive royal assent from the governor-general or one of their deputies

44
Q

At what stage of the ‘bill to a law’ process do experts and people outside of the government get invited to come and make comments/suggestions of amendments to the bill?

A

within the committee stage

45
Q

who do MP’s represent?

A

the people that live in their riding and those that elected them

46
Q

who do senators represent?

A

the interests of all Canadians, especially the minorities

47
Q

what is the difference in the roles of the MP’s and the senators within the consideration of the bill?

A

MP’s are debating the bill in terms of best supporting their riding whereas the sent will debate the bill to best support the overall country including its minorities

48
Q

why does it take longer for federal bills to become laws than provincial?

A

because the go through the ‘bill to a law’ process twice instead of only once

49
Q

where does a bill start vs. finish?

A

a bill starts in parliament (house of commons/senate) and finishes in the crown

50
Q

What are the three criteria used to identify a statement as an issue?

A
  1. it must be a topic that has a wide range of responses as well as presents a potential impact on the quality of life, citizenship or identity
  2. the statement must be stated in the form of a question, be open-ended, unbiased and portray no clear right or wrong answer
  3. the statement requires an informed response that must be compatible to be supported with clear evidence and relevant reasoning
51
Q

what is the difference between an issue and a non-issue?

A

an issue is a clear, unbiased, open-ended statement given in the form of a question whereas a non-issue provides a statement lacking reasoning as well as varying responses.

52
Q

how does first past the post result in an inevitable two-party system?

A

because smaller parties have a greater difficulty getting seats, voters may feel as if they are wasting their vote, and in turn vote for a larger party with a likely chance of winning

53
Q

how does first past the post lead to voter apathy?

A

people who support a less popular party may feel like their vote doesn’t count as they know their party won’t win.

54
Q

how can grouping ridings impact the results of voting?

A

the ruling party can make it so that the opposing party’s voters are split up so they can not form a majority government.

55
Q

what is gerrymandering?

A

when the boundaries of ridings are manipulated in a way that minimizes the impact of votes for the opponent and maximizes the effect of votes given by supporters

56
Q

how is the number of Mp’s in the house of commons per province determined?

A

based on population

57
Q

what is the difference between popular vote and representation by population?

A

in the popular vote, the candidate with the most votes wins whereas in representation by population each province gets a greater representation within the house of commons

58
Q

the senate changes after each election. TRUE or FALSE

A

false

59
Q

why doesn’t the senate change after each election?

A

because the appointed senate holds their job until the age of 75 when they are expected to retire

60
Q

name the five major political parties of Canada in order from left to right on the political spectrum.

A

NDP, Bloc Quebecois, Green Party, Liberals, Conservatives

61
Q

define representation by population

A

a political system where sets within the legislature are allocated based on population

62
Q

define the popular vote

A

a voting system where the candidate who receives the most votes directly forms government

63
Q

define referendum

A

a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision.

64
Q

what is the primary role of the senate?

A

to provide a sober second thought within Canada’s government

65
Q

what does the party whip do?

A

ensure that enough party members are in the chamber for debates and votes, determines which committees a party member will sit on, assign seats and offices within the house of commons as well as encourage members to follow party commitments

66
Q

what does the speaker of the house do?

A

manage the house of commons and supervise its staff, act as a liaison with the senate and the crown as well as manage the house of commons campus including te 2000 people who work there

67
Q

how does the government determine the number of ridings?

A

based on the population of an area

68
Q

why did the political parties form?

A

so that there are different options/opinions that people can vote for

69
Q

define the term federal

A

a government system that has control over a nation

70
Q

define the term provincial

A

a government system that has control over a state or region of a country

71
Q

who comprises the legislative branch?

A

the house of commons and the senate

72
Q

who comprises the executive branch?

A

the prime minister, cabinet and government departments

73
Q

define the term elected

A

when members of society choose someone to become a member of government or uphold another position through voting

74
Q

give three examples of potential elected positions within the government

A

prime minister, member of parliament, premier

75
Q

define the term appointed

A

when someone is chosen by one of a higher power to obtain a position within the government

76
Q

what are some beliefs/terms associated with left-sided government?

A

collective, cooperation, equality, high government control, wanting the same for all and interest in good for the group

77
Q

what are some beliefs/terms associated with right-sided government?

A

not much change, individual, inequality, competition, low government control, lack of morals and concern for others, good for individual

78
Q

what is a lobby group?

A

A group of people with similar opinions who work together to try and make our country a better place

79
Q

list three ways lobby groups can get support for their ideas

A

lobbyists, social media, stunts

80
Q

what is the main issue with opinion polls?

A

Accuracy is going down because not as many people are taking the time to answer calls or participate in online polls, causing the data to be taken from a smaller range of the population

81
Q

what is a lobbyist?

A

an unelected individual that can gain access to government officials by building relationships with the politician or their staff

82
Q

what are three things canadians can do to get involved in the government process?

A

they can vote, protest, and become members of lobby groups

83
Q

what is one of the ways media and lobby groups influence the government?

A

people may money in order to influence the government in hopes that they can make our system better

84
Q

what is one of the ways media and lobby groups influence the government?

A

people may money in order to influence the government in hopes that they can make our system better

85
Q

How do lobby groups use the judicial branch to get their ideas responded to?

A

Launch supreme court cases to challenge various laws

86
Q

Why is the free press so important to representative democracy?

A

it keeps citizens educated in order to allow them to make a difference within their society. The press also keeps the government in check

87
Q

what are the major concerns with the free press?

A

people are not going to get all the facts, therefore creating a bias