Canada's Democracy: Stable Traditions, Varied Opinions, Political Parties - Essay Sample

Introduction

Canada is viewed as a full democracy state based on moderate political ideologies that were practiced in the recent past. Canadian politics have stable democratic traditions functioning within the structure of a parliamentary government. Canadian citizens have varied broad opinions about politics, and as such, the country has plenty of political parties. Political parties are very compelling in the parliamentary system of government. The party with the majority members in the House of Commons sets up the government and chooses a prime minister and the whole cabinet. The second party in terms of elected members in the house becomes the Official Opposition. This paper discusses the political spectrum in Canada and analyses whether the re-election of Trudeau or Conservative Premier moves the range to the left or right, respectively.

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Left-wing and right-wing almost have a similar meaning in Canada. The left-wing is mainly dominated by the Democratic Party that is largely associated with social democracy that comprises a small side for the socialists (Haakstad, 2019). The Green Party falls in the same group as the left-wing even though they differ in economic policies as they are more concerned with environmental policy. The Liberals fall in the middle of the political spectrum that forms a large tent party that comprises the left-wing and right-wing groupings.

The right-wing forms a large tent party of the Conservatives that evolved from the merger of the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Party. The grouping has a few political parties at the provincial level led by the Wild Rose party that is the most prominent. Attempts are underway to merge the Conservative Party with the Wild Rose to consolidate the right-wing votes and overpower NDP in the Alberta government.

Left-Wing vs Right-Wing

The difference between the left-wing and the right-wing focuses on people's rights against government facilities. The left-wing is mostly liberal and firmly believes that the community will access better services when the role of the government is enlarged while the right-wing holds that the correct society is achieved when both the individual rights and the civil liberties are adhered to. In basic terms, left-wing aligns itself with socialism while the left-wing is associated with communism.

Justin Trudeau Election

Justin Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party and serves as the Prime Minister of Canada since 2015 when he was voted into office. I contend that he has become more of a left-wing based on several indicators during his campaign. He has shown less concern for the growing amount of debt and policies of the Liberal Party have made a populist leader. He has suggested going hard on the upper-class citizens so that he can invest in the middle class. This move has aroused resentment against people who have acquired more, which is not different from the position that was held by the New Democratic Party (Kestler-D'Amours, 2019). His charisma and nice hair have endeared him to the crowd with the common theme of free healthcare and free daycare. These are sentiments that are held closely by the left-wing.

In the elections that were concluded recently, Justin Trudeau won the Prime Minister's post but lost the majority vote in government at the Provincial level. Jason Kenney was elected as the United Conservative Party leader in a landslide victory, making him the majority leader and an official leader of Opposition. This election set the trend rolling where voters have been electing majority conservatives at the Provincial level in the recent past.

Out of the ten provinces, six are led by conservative governments that are the majority. This has made it difficult for the Prime Minister, who is viewed as an elitist by both the left and right to seamlessly perform his duties. Only one Conservative premier has promised to support his policies as the rest accuse him of reneging on his earlier promises. The feeling by Alberta citizens that the national government has ignored investing in pipelines for their oil to reach the market has made it more difficult for the Prime Minister. Based on this information and by the Conservatives having the majority, I can conclude that Canada has become right-wing.

How Compelling Do You Find Realism and Realpolitik in Contrast to Liberalism in Explaining Politics

Realism and realpolitik is a practice of politics that focuses on practical as compared to ideologies, while liberalism is concerned with cooperation. Realism has a primary focus on material power and security, while liberalism focuses on economic interdependence. Liberalism seeks to provide ideas that will shape the international system.

Realism believes that global relation is about the communication of independent states standing as self-reliant forces. The key concepts of realpolitik are international anarchy, the balance of power, and national interest. International anarchy holds that as the national government with sovereign power applies its laws, the international community holds supreme power on violence. There is a general belief that nations have no rule of law, but power is the most important component. This power can be interpreted to mean the military rule, but balancing power has been observed to be the best measure of peace.

Realists believe that power within the state has immense power on economic trends such as trade balance. Therefore, powerful countries are believed to take advantage of weak states not only in military power but in decision making as far as economic matters are concerned (Johnston, 2018). A good example is the recent views on economic issues by the United States, such as immigration and trade, as well as the manipulation of currencies by the state of China that supports the argument of realism.

Liberalism offers a counter view on realism is that several economic issues concern interdependence as well as mutual benefit. If the two sides can benefit from working together towards a common goal, then power is not essential. Global organizations such as the United Nations support liberalism because it is a representation of a successful cooperative organization on the international front. The liberals argue that the world should not be an endless arena of conflicting sides and fighting for power because everyone can get an equal share by working together.

Therefore, anarchy can be overcome by strengthening international law and encouraging free organizational across the globe. Liberals are in support of free trade and global monetary cooperation that will make currency exchange rates stable (Johnston, 2018). The liberals have suggested that there should be a way through which rogue states are handled to ensure collective security free from terrorism and violence threats. In a state where realism views state violence as a normal occurrence, liberalism vies it as an exception that should be isolated and sanctioned by the majority of the global community.

Liberals are optimistic about international cooperation, while realists have always been suspicious and on the lookout on whether the state will get its fair share. There is a view that discussions that concern government policies and global economy will always produce two sides as the winner, and the loser at every occurrence, and therefore, every side is determined by the nations' interests and values. Analysts view that the current state would not allow liberals to function seamlessly because there are so many parties with divergent interests that cannot be forced to share a standard view. A good example is a state where creditors cooperate, but that does not offer a solution because it shifts the load to the debtors who may not agree, thereby making politics polarized.

As a result, several political movements have broken out across the world that is opposed to the current views towards solving the deadlock among global political economies (Whelan, 2004). On one side is a group of creditors holding together with their allies in government across the globe who oppose any solution that will enable the provision of grant debts at the cost of creditors. However, on the other hand, private and public debts have accumulated at an alarming rate because they are cheap and do not influence the global economic meltdown.

The challenges of liberal and realist world economy will not be solved through cooperation as they will accumulate to a polarization point where the rich and the poor, as well as opposing interests, break down (Whelan, 2004). Politics is about interests, and every side supports views with the belief that in the long run, they will come out with an upper hand. The current trend in global politics has made it very difficult for sides to agree on one way towards unlocking the current economic deadlock.

References

Haakstad, K. (2019). Beyond the Ballot: Inter-provincial dynamics and the 2019 federal election. Retrieved from: http://globalpublicaffairs.ca/beyond-the-ballot-inter-provincial-dynamics-and-the-2019-federal-election/

Johnston, W. (2018). REALISM AND THE LIBERAL TRADITION: international relations. [Place of publication not identified], PALGRAVE MACMILLAN. DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-57764-1

Kestler-D'Amours, J. (2019). Canada: 'An election about nothing' leaves many uninspired. Retrieved from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/canada-election-leaves-uninspired-191009234338488.html

Whelan, F. (2004). Hume and Machiavelli: political realism and liberal thought. Lanham, Md Lexington Books. DOI: 10.1353/hms.2011.0217