Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Group Representation, Responsible Government

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 1020E
• Professor: John Grant

Document Summary

Legislature: the law making body of a political unit (eg, state) where legislation(laws) is initiated, presented, debated and voted on. Geographic representation-> constituencies: certain classes (middle class, indigenous groups, woman"s rights) A representative model doesn"t think about the whole. Legislators are responsible for: writing, debating, passing laws. Vote on new policies and adjust on old ones. Every action has procedure which ritualizes and standardizes conflict and ensures transparency. Number of chambers: unicameral (house of representatives, bicameral (house and senate) Forms: parliamentary (canada, presidential (us, hybrid (france) The branch of government responsible for carrying out or executing the laws. Who makes up the executive: head of government, head of state, cabinet. Executive legislative relationship: checks and balances, responsible government. The role: allocates power between government, guards the constitution, regulation of societal exchanges (mutual rights and responsibilities, a third part adjudicator to settle legal disputes. Judicial impartiality-> judges must be free from prejudice for or against any party appearing before them.