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The politics of Canada functions within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. [1] Canada is a constitutional monarchy where the monarch is the ceremonial head of state .
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical, but not political. [10] The monarch is vested with all powers of state [11] and sits at the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority.
The following list outlines the structure of the federal government of Canada, the collective set of federal institutions which can be grouped into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In turn, these are further divided into departments, agencies, and other organizations which support the day-to-day function of the Canadian state.
The Parliament of Canada is the legislative body of the government of Canada. The Parliament is composed of the House of Commons (lower house), the Senate (upper house), and the sovereign, represented by the governor general. Most major legislation originates from the House, as it is the only body that is directly elected.
Canada emerged from the war with better cooperation between the federal and provincial governments. This led to a welfare state, a government-funded health care system and the adoption of Keynesian economics. In 1951 section 94A was added to the British North America Act, 1867 to allow the Canadian parliament to provide for pensions.
The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, [187] described as "the personal expression of the Crown in Canada," [419] and his image is thus used to signify Canadian sovereignty and government authority—his image, for instance, appearing on currency, and his portrait in government buildings. [238]
The Government of Canada, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government, [1] [2] is defined by the constitution as the King acting on the advice of his Privy Council; [3] [4] what is technically known as the Governor-in-Council, [5] referring to the governor general as the King's delegate.
Canada's electoral system is a "first-past-the-post" system, which is formally referred to as a single-member plurality system.The candidate who receives the most votes in a riding, even if not a majority of the votes, wins a seat in the House of Commons and represents that riding as its member of Parliament (MP).