Political Parties in Canada

1
Political Parties in Canada

• D Brown
• St Francis Xavier University
• Winter term 2007

2
Political Parties

• The role of parties in the political system
• The brokerage model in Canada
• Declining role of parties ?

3
Seven Functions of Political Parties(John Meisel)

• Parties integrate citizens into the political
  system
• They develop policy
• They recruit leaders (elites)
• They help to organize Parliament into clear roles
  of government and opposition
• They help voters to structure their choices
• They organize public opinion around ideology or
  sets of political values
• They aggregate interests into a larger consensus

4
Theories of Party Support

• Traditional model allegiances based on specific
  social cleavages.religion, ethnicity, language,
  class, etc.
• Brokerage model collections of allegiances with
  convergence to the centre
• Rational choice voters choose each time on the
  merits of their self-interests

5
The Canadian Brokerage Model

• Roots in Macdonalds successful but necessary
  coalitions of moderate reformers, Conservatives
  -- French and English
• Later.Liberals and Conservatives become omnibus
  parties (compare Republican and Democrat in USA)
• Bridging regional and linguistic divides i.e.
  the party as an instrument of national
  integration

6
Challenges to the Brokerage Model

• Break-away and new parties based on class and
  other economic cleavages
• E.gparties for Farmers, Labour, the CCF, Social
  Credit, NDP
• Regional or national movements or
  partiesMaritime Rights, Progressives, Bloc
  populaire, Reform, Bloc québécois

7
Challenges to the Brokerage Model, 1993 election

• Progressive-Conservative Party vote declines
  dramatically, and wins only 2 seats
• Bloc québécois (Quebec only) and Reform (west
  only) take 2nd and 3rd place in seats.
• Liberals were only brokerage type, national
  party left.
• Can the (new) Conservatives regain that status?
• Why is the NDP not a successful brokerage party?

8
Decline of Party Role

• Parties no longer very important in determining
  policy
• Leaders dominant in a television age
• A more independent media than in the past
• Interest groups and social movements define
  political identity and community more precisely

9
Future of Parties

• Would change a lot if electoral system changed
  i.e. to a proportional system
• Electing Senators might help reinvigorate party
  life
• Municipal-level party development?
• The party that can attract the youth vote could
  transform the system

10
Party websites

• http//www.conservative.ca
• http//www.liberal.ca
• http//www.ndp.ca
• http//www.blocquebecois.org