(整理)加拿大政治体制概况.

Canadian Political System Introduction：Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions. Its political system under which modern Canada operates is known as the Westminster system. Since Canada’s political structure is modeled after those of Britain and the United States, it can be described as both a federation like the US and a constitutional monarchy like Britain.Westminster system:The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modeled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The essential features of the Westminster system are:∙The Government is chosen by the democratically elected lower house. The government requires the continuing support of amajority of members of that chamber to stay in office.∙The head of government is the Prime Minister, who leads a Cabinet which is responsible to the lower house.∙ A loyal Opposition exists, led by the leader of the party or parties with the second largest number of seats in the lower house.∙ A constitutional monarch, if one exists, who is “above politics” and acts on the advice of the prime minister.∙There is a career public service which impartially serves the government of the day.∙The armed services are outside of politics and act on the instructions of the government.∙The rule of law prevails, with an independent judiciary, subject to the Constitution.The Canadian government consists of three parts:ONE: The Legislature 立法The Parliament of Canada: the House of Commons and the Senate.●The House of Commons：Each member chosen by a majority of eligible voters in each of the country's federal electoral districts, or ridings, via a plurality voting system. To run for one of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, an individual must be at least 18 years old, and on average, members of the House of Commons are elected for a maximum of five-year term.●The Senate：It is a group of 105 individuals appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister; all those summoned to the Senate by the viceroy must be a minimum of 30 years old, and own property with a net worth of at least $4,000, in addition to owning landworth no less than $4,000 within the province he or she is to represent. Its main function is to accept or reject the suggestion of the House of Commons.●The Prime Minister is often the leader of the majority party in Parliament, and selects the ministers who make up the Cabinet, they exercise executive power as the “Government”, and are responsible only to the House of Commons.TWO: The Executive 执行●The Governor General holds the highest position and is theoreticallythe source of executive power. In practice, however, the Governor General is only the symbolic executive who can act only on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Responsibilities:1) To summon the House of Common and the Senate;2）To give Royal Assent to all federal laws passed by the House ;3）To open and end session of Parliament;4）To dissolve Parliament before an election.●The Canadian government is divided into :The federal government: It shares many of the provincial government’s features. Besides, it has a second chamber equivalent to the Canadian Senate.The provincial government: A lieutenant Governor represents the King or Queen in each province; their duties are similar to those of the Governor General.Territorial government: Three territories have their own governments but with less power than those of the province.THREE: The Judiciary 司法机构The courts in Canada are organized in four-level structure. Level 1: The Supreme Court.●It serves as the final court of appeals in Canada.●It hears both civil and criminal appeals from decision of the courts of appeals in all the provinces and territories.●It plays a special role as adviser to the federal government on questions concerning the Constitution and controversial complicated areas of private and public law.Level 2: The Federal Court of Appeal and the various provincial courts of appeals.Level 3: The Federal Court, The Tax Court of Canada, The provincial and the territorial superior courts of general jurisdiction.Level 4: Provincial courts.Political Parties 政党There are three main political parties in Canada.●The Liberal Party: The most favored and influential political party in Canada, founded in 1867, and has often over the years held a majority in the Canadian House of Commons, and at other times still remained a substantial amount of seats. This party combines a liberal social policy with a moderate economic policy.●The Conservative Party:The right-wing political party in Canada was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party in December 2003. The Reform Party had been the chief political party to oppose the Liberal party for a number of years. In 2006, the party achieved a major victory with the election of its candidate for Prime minister, Stephen Harper.●The New Democratic Party:It is a social democratic party in Canada, founded in 1961, incorporating two other Canadian parties, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labor Congress. The party represents the left-wing position and retains a smallnumber of seats in the House of Commons.Election 选举●Each province：Its own electoral system.The federal Parliament: A national electoral system.Different systems share many similarities as well as differences.●At the time of confederation, the right to vote was severely limited:★Only white men could vote and they had to meet certain property qualifications.★Women were given the right to vote in 1918;★Aboriginal Canada living on reserves in 1960;●Nowadays, citizens aged 18 or older have the right to vote.●Two citizens cannot vote:★The Chief Electoral Officer(总选举事务主任)★The Deputy Chief Electoral Officer(副首席选举事务主任)●Constitutionally, elections must be held every five years.By tradition, they are usually held at approximately four-year intervals.。