POLS 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Party System
Document Summary
The electoral system has played a major role in the evolution of canadian parties. Caim that party system has been an important instrument for integrating canadians across sectional lines is highly suspect. Advocates for proportional representation base their argument on democratic fundamentalism and argue that each vote should have equal weight. Opponent of proportional representation argue that executive stability is more of a basic consideration and that the goal of canadian type systems is to create artificial legislative majorities. If the goal of the canadian system is to create artificial majorities its performance since 1921 has only been mediocre. The electoral system has given the government in every single election from 1921-1965 a greater percentage of seats that votes but has only transformed a minority of votes into a majority of seats in 6/12 occasions. The electoral system is intended to maintain an effective opposition defined as atleast of the house members.
