Socials 11
Mr. Lewis
Name:
Date:
Unit: Canadian Identity
Topic: Political Ideology
Assignment: The Political Spectrum
Politics and Party
Political parties are guided by ideology. Like all modern nations, Canada is governed by one or more
political parties. Political parties are a relatively recent invention and none are more than a few hundred years
old. Most are organized around political and social principles—an ideology, which guides it in everything it
does. Most of Canada’s political parties believe in a balance between the powers of the state and the rights of
the individual. They support some form of capitalism and the kind of parliamentary democracy we currently
enjoy.
Authoritarian Governments
Not all ideologies are so moderate. Authoritarian governments control the country with harsh laws and
restrictions on freedom. Fascism is a form of authoritarianism. Fascist governments, such as the Nazis in
Germany from Chapter 5, believe that the individual and human rights are not important. Fascist ideology is
about the importance of the state and the responsibility of people to serve it. Fascist states are corporate
states—the root of the word corporate means ‘body’. People are parts of the whole, the body, and can be
rejected or destroyed if they are different or ‘harmful’. Fascism is also racist and it idealizes nationalism.
There is no room for political dissent or individual freedom in these extremely repressive police states.
A fascist government is totalitarian. In theory, totalitarian governments control every aspect of life within a
country, its culture, religion, government, economy and so on. Communist governments are also totalitarian.
Until the end of the Cold War, many countries, including the Soviet Union, had such governments. Today,
there are few communist countries—China is the largest. On the political spectrum, totalitarian ideologies are
at the extremes, Fascism is to the far right; communism is to the far left.
The Traditional Political Spectrum
Most other political ideologies fit between these two extremes of communism and
fascism. Socialism is left wing. Socialists believe that government should control
the important parts of the economy, the major industries, and so on. Socialism
developed when capitalism was causing great social harm, when working
conditions for many people were very bad and when poverty was widespread. As
you may recall from Chapter 4, Canada's first socialist party, the Co-operative
Commonwealth Federation, was formed during the Depression, when people were
disillusioned with Canada's capitalist system. Most socialist parties are democratic,
that is they believe in the power of people to choose their own government.
Liberalism is now considered be left-of-center. This is because liberals adopted
some of the progressive social policies of the socialists, such as universal health
care and other social programs, place less emphasis on the military, and provide
more support for arts and culture. Conservatives, on the other hand, are now more
likely to support business interests and tradition, and they tend to be
This statue represents the workers
nationalistic and pro-military. Traditionally, conservativism appeals more
of the Soviet Union, a country
to rural voters, liberalism to urban voters. In times past, liberals, also called
that had a totalitarian government.
Whigs, were the party of business and wanted to limit the power of the
Thinking Critically Why would
totalitarian governments use such
monarchy and the conservatives, or Tories, represented the interests of
images of idealized people
landowners and strongly supported the monarchy. We still use the terms
serving the state, and other such
Whig and Tory for the Liberal and Conservative parties.
propaganda?
Political Spectrum Chart
Left-Wing
Support change in order to
improve the welfare of all
citizens.
Governments should play a
larger role in people’s lives,
especially in providing social
services.
Law and order are important to
protect the rights of all citizens
fairly and equally.
Centre
Tradition is important,
but change must be
supported if most
people want it.
Governments should
play a role only when
it improves the lives
of citizens.
Law and order are
important to
encourage and protect
the rights of
individuals.
Right-Wing
Tradition is important;
change should be
treated with caution.
Governments should
play a small role.
Private businesses
should ensure needs of
citizens are met.
Emphasizes law and
order to protect
society and its
traditions.
Ideology And The Issues
This political compass analysis shows how
major Canadian parties compare in terms of
social policy, economic policy, the
environment, and other issues. What does
the placement of the Bloc Québécois tell
you about its ideology?
http://www.politicalcompass.org/images/canada2008.png
The political parties that have governed Canada, and have been official parties in opposition, cluster around
the center of the political spectrum. This is not surprising because most Canadians identify themselves as
being from the ‘middle’. If a shared ideology is a major reason for forming and maintaining a political party,
how then do the Canada’s major parties differ? The best way to understand a party’s ideology is to look at
their stated positions on important issues. What political parties state in their election platforms about these
issues helps us to understand their ideology.
Party Platforms
The party platform is a list of priorities and a plan for governing published by political parties. Platforms
help the public to understand what the party stands for and it reminds party members about goals and core
beliefs. In the 2004 election campaign, Liberals promised to establish a national housing plan and to create a
national child-care plan; Conservatives promised to lower taxes on middle income earners and to give
families a tax reduction for each child; the New Democratic Party also promised a national housing plan,
Medicare payment cuts and 10% university tuition cuts. On defense, the Conservatives promised to join the
American North American Missile Defense System; the Liberals to tie military interventions to trade and aid
missions; the New Democrats to refuse to join the U.S. in North American Missile Defense. Other federal
political parties, such as the Bloc Quebecois and The Greens, also include statements about these issues in
their platforms, which are available on their websites.