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Question 1:

The seven functions of political parties as identified by John Meisel do not include ________.
a) organization of government
b) organizing public opinion
c) structuring the vote
d) promoting interests by influencing government
e) integrating citizens into a political system

Question 2:

The term “brokerage politics” refers to ________.
a) a flexible centrist style of politics
b) right-wing politics
c) left-wing politics
d) ideological politics
e) the politics of corporations

Question 3:

________ has presented Canadian voters with a class-based definition of Canadian politics.
a) The Liberal Party
b) The Conservative Party
c) The Bloc Québécois
d) The Green Party
e) The New Democratic Party

Question 4:

The National Policy of 1878–1879 did not include ________.
a) encouragement of western settlement
b) implementation of a protective tariff
c) decentralization of the federation
d) creation of a transcontinental railroad
e) a unifying, nation-building vision

Question 5:

The coalition that was the predecessor to the Liberal Party was formed by ________.
a) the rouges and the Progressives
b) the bleus and Democrats
c) Clear Grits and the bleus
d) Clear Grits and the rouges
e) the bleus and the Progressives

Question 6:

In the context of elections, the term “patronage” refers to ________.
a) a major policy announcement
b) the control of government largesse
c) deliberately acting to interfere with the internal functioning of an opposition party
d) fundraising in other countries
e) the act of trading votes for favours

Question 7:

French political sociologist André Siegfried, who visited Canada in 1898 and 1904, observed that its political life was preoccupied with ________.
a) regional interest and rights
b) public works and rights
c) material interest and public works
d) regional interest and material interest
e) regional interest and public works

Question 8:

The party formed in 1987as a vehicle for western discontent was ________.
a) the Liberal Party
b) the Conservative Party
c) the Reform Party
d) the Green Party
e) the New Democratic Party

Question 9:

The role of “minor” parties such as the Reform/Alliance in Canada’s brokerage party system is to ________.
a) absorb defeated candidates
b) provide enough competition for an election to be legally held
c) recruit
d) stimulate policy innovation
e) control Parliamentary decision-making

Question 10:

During the 1980s, ________became the rallying point(s) for dissent in Canadian party politics.
a) deficit reduction
b) welfare reform
c) lower taxes
d) all of the above
e) none of the above

Question 11:

Only one party succeeded in practising the old brokerage-style politics in the 1993, 1997, and 2000 elections: ________.
a) the New Democratic Party
b) the Canadian Alliance
c) the Bloc Québécois
d) the Progressive Conservative Party
e) the Liberal Party

Question 12:

After the 1997 federal election, the Liberals dominated in ________.
a) the Atlantic provinces
b) Quebec
c) Ontario
d) the west
e) the North

Question 13:

The United Alternative was an attempt to ________.
a) unite the environmental movement after the 1993 federal election
b) “unite the left” in the aftermath of the 1997 federal election
c) “unite the right” in the aftermath of the 1997 federal election
d) unite the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties after the 1993 federal election
e) unite the Liberal and New Democratic parties to establish a minority coalition government in 2008

Question 14:

The Adscam scandal occurred because ________ advertising firms in Quebec were paid for work they did not do.
a) NDP-friendly
b) Bloc Québécois –friendly
c) Conservative-friendly
d) Liberal-friendly
e) corporation-friendly

Question 15:

The victory of the Conservatives in 2006 was widely interpreted as a shift to the _________.
a) centre
b) left
c) right
d) West
e) East

Question 16:

A realignment election may produce ________.
a) a weak minority government
b) a strong minority government
c) a gridlock
d) a durable change in the parties’ bases of support
e) several new parties

Question 17:

Michael Ignatieff’s defeat at the 2006 Liberal convention may be attributed to all of the following factors, except that _______.
a) he had lived outside of Canada for most of his adult life
b) in some of his past writings he had expressed himself as though he were an American
c) he favoured rethinking post–Geneva Convention ideas about torture
d) he used to be college roommates with leadership rival Bob Rae
e) he supported the invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein

Question 18:

Canada is electorally a 60/40 country because _______.
a) the winning party typically gets 60 per cent of the popular vote
b) the winning party typically gets 40 per cent of the vote and 60 per cent of the seats
c) the winning party typically gets 60 per cent of its votes from central Canada
d) the only centre-right party in Canada gets 60 per cent of the vote, and the centre-left parties get 40 per cent
e) the only centre-right party in Canada gets 40 per cent of the vote, and the centre-left parties get 60 per cent

Question 19:

The type of electoral system used in Canada is ________.
a) the run-off system
b) the plurality system
c) the single-transferable vote system
d) the proportional representation system
e) the preferential voting system

Question 20:

Critics of the proportional electoral system cite all of the following arguments against it, except that _______.
a) it produces more seats than votes for the strongest major party
b) it splinters the party system
c) it produces unstable government
d) it encourages ideological polarity
e) it risks allowing extremist parties to infiltrate the legislature

Question 21:

A political party’s representation in the House of Commons will depend on ________.
a) ideology
b) how many constituencies it wins
c) the Governor General’s appointment of Members of Parliament
d) all of the above
e) none of the above

Question 22:

Advocates of the single-member, simple plurality electoral system cite ________ as its chief virtue.
a) the simplicity of the voting process
b) the number of seats in the legislature equal to the popular vote
c) its ability to reduce party conflicts
d) its ability to produce majority governments
e) its long tradition in governments around the world

Question 23:

In Canada, ________ usually receives a larger share of its popular vote from men than from women.
a) the Conservative Party
b) the Liberal Party
c) the NDP
d) the Green Party
e) the Bloc Québécois

Question 24:

Research on declining voter turnout by André Blais and his colleagues offers all of the following conclusions, except that ________.
a) the likelihood of voting increases by about 15 percentage points from age 20 to age 50
b) younger generations are less likely to view the act of voting as important
c) age being held constant, the propensity to vote decreases from generation to generation
d) the generational difference is not found among the university-educated
e) voter turnout has been declining more rapidly in central Canada than in the East or West

Question 25:

Paid access opportunities are ________.
a) special private meetings between party leaders and the party’s highest-paying donors
b) private dinners hosted by the Prime Minister at 24 Sussex Drive for the highest-paying party donors
c) fundraising events where admission is very expensive and where donors receive the opportunity to meet party leaders
d) private dinners hosted by the leader of the official opposition at Stornoway for the highest-paying party donors
e) both b and d

Question 26:

Elite recruitment is not a function of political parties.
a) True
b) False

Question 27:

Governing parties propose; opposition parties oppose.
a) True
b) False

Question 28:

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was the predecessor to the Liberal Party.
a) True
b) False

Question 29:

Wilfrid Laurier caused deep division between the groups that eventually formed the Conservative Party.
a) True
b) False

Question 30:

The most significant and enduring shift that took place beginning with the 1993 election was that a large share of the Quebec electorate voted for the Bloc Québécois is six consecutive elections.
a) True
b) False

Question 31:

The emphasis on accommodating diverse interests of the electorate is no longer a characteristic feature of federal and provincial politics in Canada.
a) True
b) False

Question 32:

After Pierre Trudeau assumed the leadership of the party in 1968, the Liberals became identified with a strong central state.
a) True
b) False

Question 33:

According to Robert Alford, a relative lack of national integration is the major reason for the lack of class voting in Canada.
a) True
b) False

Question 34:

The Canadian Alliance increased both its share of the popular vote and its total number of seats in the 2000 federal election under leader Stockwell Day.
a) True
b) False

Question 35:

The 2000 election marked the third consecutive election in which the NDP’s national support was in the single digits.
a) True
b) False

Question 36:

The merger in 2003 of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party eliminated what many considered to be the conditions for permanent Liberal government in Canada.
a) True
b) False

Question 37:

The single-member, simple plurality electoral system tends to produce fewer seats than votes for the strongest major party and for minor parties whose support is regionally concentrated.
a) True
b) False

Question 38:

Four out of 10 Quebec voters cast a ballot for the NDP in 2011.
a) True
b) False

Question 39:

The caucus model is a method of selecting party leaders by other elected MPs of their party.
a) True
b) False

Question 40:

Under the single-member constituency, one person is elected to represent the citizens of a particular geographic area called a constituency or riding.
a) True
b) False

Higher Education

Canadian Democracy, Eighth Edition: Chapter 11