POLI 320 Outline

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

COURSE NUMBER:

POLI 320

COURSE TITLE:

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr John Hiemstra

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3 (hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This course examines the relationship between Canada's federal and provincial governments and the place of French Canada, regionalism, multiculturalism, Canadian nationalism and aboriginal nations within the Canadian state. It examines the history of Canada's constitutional evolution, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Prerequisite: POLI 205

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Christopher Cochrane, Kelly Blidook, and Rand Dyck, Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches, 8th edition, Scarborough: Thomson Nelson, 2017.
The daily newspaper. Students are expected to read a daily, quality, Canadian, newspaper such as The Edmonton Journal, National Post, or Globe and Mail. [Available in paper in the library or electronically online.] This must inform our discussions of key themes throughout this course.
A few additional readings will be required as the course unfolds, and will be available on library-reserve or Moodle.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


Mid-term Exam	25%
Argumentative Essay	20%
Essay Proposal	5%
In-class debate	10%
Class participation	10%
Final Exam	30%

	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Students will develop an understanding and appreciation of the historically diverse and sometimes divided character of Canada’s people(s).
Students will explore whether / how the Canadian political practices and government institutions were shaped in response to the diversity within the political community, or the reverse.
Students will understand the structure and operation of the Canadian political system, and assess how well it works.
Students will understand how different ‘visions of life,’ including Christian visions of life, help shape the ways people think about government & plurality; and how they ought to relate.
Students will learn skills of research, framing, and arguing positions in class and in debates.

LECTURE TOPICS:

INTRODUCTION

1. Review of basic concepts (system, gov’t, state, society)

How do the theories explain system and dynamics?

2. Overview of history and institutions of Canadian government
3. ‘Who’ forms the “Canadian state”?

PART I: SOCIETY & ‘POLITICAL COMMUNITY’: WHO WE ARE & HOW IT MATTERS

4. Regionalism & federalism
5. French – English
6. Indigenous Peoples
7. Ethnocultural Minorities
8. Gender
9. Class
10. Religion

PART II: REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEMS, POLITICS & OUTCOMES

11. Reflective Pause: Political community - representation - government

Political culture

12. Electoral System
13. Political Parties and the Party System
14. Interest Groups & Social Movements

PART III: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

Canadian Constitution

15. Canadian Constitution and Change

16. Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Key Government Institutions

17. The Executive: Crown, Prime Minister, and Cabinet

18. Parliament

19. The Judiciary

20. Reflective Pause: Revisiting the role of the state

21. In-Class Presentation of argumentative essays