Welcome - Political Power and Partisan Politics: The Structures of Canadian Parliamentary Government
POLI 2220 Political Power and Partisan Politics: The Structures of Canadian Parliamentary Government
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Canadian government is dominated by prime ministers and premiers. Why this concentration of power at both the federal and provincial levels of government? Are Members of Parliament who are not in the Cabinet really “nobodies” as one recent PM characterized them? Are Cabinets themselves becoming no more than “focus groups”? Do unelected partisan aides and public service advisors have more influence than the vast majority of elected representatives? Are political parties irrelevant as vehicles for citizen engagement? Are interest groups or social movements any more relevant? Do elections matter? Are the media merely the political instruments of the business elites? These are among the issues that are examined in this course in an attempt to understand the most critical factors that shape the structuring of power in contemporary Canadian government.
FORMAT:
PREREQUISITES: 1000-level course in Political Science or Kings FYP recommended
EXCLUSIONS: POLI 2200X/Y.06