Political Science Sample Assignment.

a) What structural and institutional constraints (the fact that Canada is a
parliamentary system with single member districts) did Harper have to take into account, and
how did these constraints make it more or less likely his party would win?
Stephen Harper, the former Canadian Prime Minister, elected on a conservative party
ticked called for early elections in 2015 – the earliest election to be held in the history of the
country since 1872, according to Wingrove & Theophilos (2015). Political Science Sample Assignment. His thinking was to ensure that
the conservative party retains the premiership, a post that Harper has held for over a decade. In
spite of the structural and institutional aspects that he thought would have favored him and his
conservative party, Harper wanted to avoid the political repercussion that would have followed
the trails of his shamed senators.
As a matter of fact, Harper is among the most politically skimming Canadian leaders that
the country has ever had and calling early polls portrayed a scheme that would have required
additional time in order to turn public interests from his own weaknesses to his major points and
campaign strategies. Traditionally, Canadian elections are centered on issues, but during the
2015 elections, Harper made the election about issues and as a result, he could use his decade-
long experience to out- maneuver his opponents (Cheibub, Elkins & Ginsburg, 2013).

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One of the major structural and institutional merits was the fact that the prime minister of
Canada enjoys the right to call for early elections. This is strategically important because,
elsewhere, in other political structures and systems, the date of elections are often determined by
the constitution and the country’s leadership is not granted such privileges. The conservative
party, through which Harper sought to retain his premiership, had to spend additional income
during the campaign period, this was crucial given the fact that Canadian political parties raise
their campaign money via fundraising events (Franchino &Bjørn, 2009).
In the previous election, held in 2011, Harper out witted his opponents and won the
election by obtaining 166 seats out of the possible 308 seats in the House of Common (Wingrove
& Theophilos, 2015). the 2015 elections was different since more electoral districts had been
created prior to the election, and as a result, Harper had to win more than 170 seats out of 338
seats, and he therefore, needed more time to ensure that he could have accessed more
constituents. Although a law adopted in 2007 put in place a fixed date for parliamentary
elections, it did not fix the length of election campaigns.
The introduction and consequent passage of the Fair Elections Act, a contentious piece,
which among other aspect altered the rules governing election campaign finances (Franchino
&Bjørn, 2009). This meant that political parties could spend more as a result of longer campaign
periods. The Canadian elections fix on both parties and candidates spending limits that are tied to
the period that the election campaigns take. So, for instance, in the 2015 elections, the limit of
Harper as, a conservative candidate was $ 100, 386. However, for every day that extends beyond
the 37 day limit harper would have spent an additional amount of $ 2, 713 (Wingrove &
Theophilos, 2015).
Conclusively, Stephen Harper, the former Canadian Prime Minister, elected on a
conservative party ticked called for early elections in 2015 – the earliest election to be held in the
history of the country since 1872. By so doing, he hoped to retain the leadership of the country as
its prime minister, a position he has held for about a decade. One of the major structural merits
was the fact that the prime minister of Canada enjoys the right to call for early elections. In
addition, Harper enjoyed the privilege to cut his and his party’s expenditure by calling the
elections early.
b) How would the election have been different if Canada had a presidential system of
government and/or used a proportional representation electoral system?
The evolution of the electoral structures across the globe has proved to be resilient to
radical changes. The parliamentary system of government in Canada faces a crucial problem that
has been permitted to undermine democracy in Canada. In the Canadian context, the prime
minister has excess power over the activities of the House of Commons. Excessive power in the
prime minister’s hands over the House of Commons is often a challenge to the democratic space
in Canada. Political Science Sample Assignment. Unrestricted power is any government form is invariably results to the abuse of
power. Democracy is diminished when there is abuse of power. The possibility for unrestricted
power of the prime minister has often been a danger inherent in any parliamentary democracy
such as Canada, which is anchored on the Westminster or British model (Franchino &Høyland,
2009).
Therefore, if the Canadian elections would have been held using proportional
representation, then Canadian democratic system could be reinvigorated. Significantly, a
proportional representation electoral system would give the electorate a sense that their votes
mean something. The difference between parliamentary democracy and a proportional
representation electoral system is that a proportional system gives each constitute equal
opportunity to be equally represented in parliament. This provides the majority of the electorate a
voice. And this means that the government is a representation of the wishes of the majority
(Norris, 2008). Political Science Sample Assignment.

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Under a proportional representation electoral system, the 2015 Canadian elections would
have led to a coalition, in which representatives from all political players would have had the
ability to represent their electorates. The members of parliament and political partied would need to come up with laws that suits a larger diversity of society (José, Zachary & Tom, 2014).
Instead of appealing to a single section of the population, for example the gas and oil
constituents under Harper’s party, the Conservatives, laws would be introduced in order to serve
the interests of businesses as well as local communities. If Canada had a proportional
representation electoral system, then the 2015 elections would have resulted in a stable, strong
majority coalition, in which members of parliament from all political entities would be able to
actually represent their electorates. This time, that is what a significant population of the
Canadian population was feeling, instead another majority parliamentary government came into
existence with only 39.5 % of votes. Political Science Sample Assignment.
Harpers party engaged in all manners of voter suppression strategies. However, present
Canadian system of government, where the winners takes all is the ultimate scheme to suppress
the voter – the system throws 51 % of the votes cast into the garbage. During the 2015, Canadian
elections, 51 % of the total vast votes did not help any candidate. This is what has been
happening every now again in the Canadian electoral calendar. Always, it is never a waste to cast
a vote in a parliamentary system in which the vote would be rendered useless as asserted by
Norris (2008). On the other hand, in a proportional representation electoral system, constituents
are often represented in parliament in a manner that proportionally reflects the voting patterns.
In brief, a proportional representation electoral system has numerous advantages as
compared to the current parliamentary system in Canada where 51 % of the votes cast go to
waste. Under the representation system, the 2015 Canadian elections would have led to a
coalition, in which representatives from all political players would have had the ability to
represent their electorates. Instead of appealing to a single section of the population, in a
representative system, laws would be introduced in order to serve the interests of businesses as well as local communities. If Canada had a proportional representation electoral system, then the
2015 elections would have resulted in a stable, strong majority coalition, in which members of
parliament from all political entities would be able to actually represent their electorates.Political Science Sample Assignment.

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References

Cheibub, J, A, Elkins Z. & Ginsburg, T. (2013). Beyond Presidentialism and

Parliamentary. Cambridge University Press.

Franchino, F. &Bjørn H. (2009). Legislative Policymaking in Parliamentary Systems:
Opportunities, Conflict and Institutional Constraints. Presented to the Pan-European
Conference on EU Politics, organized by the ECPR Standing Group on the European
Union.
Franchino,F. &Høyland, B. (2009). Legislative Involvement in Parliamentary Systems: Political Science Sample Assignment.
Opportunities, Conflict, and Institutional Constraints. American Political.Political Science Sample Assignment.
Science Association pp. 607-621
José A., C, Zachary E & Tom G (2014). Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarisim . British
Journal of Political Science, 44, pp 515-544.
Norris, P., (2008). Choosing Electoral Systems: Proportional, Majoritarian and Mixed

Systems. International Political Science Review pp. 297-312

Wingrove, j., & Theophilos Ar. (2015). Harpers calls oct19 elections as Canada's economy
struggles. Bloomberg Business. Political Science Sample Assignment.