Stephen Harper's Electoral System

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Stephen Harper believed that calling an early election would lead him to victory; however, the 2015 Canadian election resulted in the defeat of the Conservative party. Though some may argue that Harper would have won under a different governmental and/or electoral system, this essay argues that regardless of the political and/or electoral system that Canada has, Stephen Harper was defeated in the 2015 Canadian election due to his unpopularity among voters. Firstly, the essay will identify the factors that led to Harper’s unpopularity and defeat such as the decline in the Canadian economy, strategic voting, past policies like Bill C-51, poor campaign tactics, and the Senate spending scandal. Secondly, it will analyze the election under a presidential …show more content…

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Harper blames the oil industry for being the cause, however; MP Marc Garneau (2015) suggests, “The Prime Minister is to blame. Although there are external factors that come into play, some years are better than others. But let’s face it, we are now talking about eight deficits in a row!” The current economy resulted in a weak economic credibility for the Conservatives, allowing opposition parties to discredit Harper as a competent manager of the economy. According to Economist Jim Stanford (2015), “Canada’s economy under Stephen Harper has the worst record in the past 70 years and that the Conservative government has been part of the problem by deeply cutting real per capita program spending since 2011, and thus helping set the stage for this year’s recession.” Additionally, recession-like conditions threaten the promise of balanced budgets, which questions Harper’s overall creditability to keep his promises. The average annual growth in real GDP per capita has been it’s lowest with only 0.45% since Harper was prime Minister. Most Canadians ranked the economy as the most important issue facing Canada in a poll conducted by The Globe and Mail. When it comes to the economy, most Canadians would be swing voters. More than one-third of poll respondents say their standard of living has declined in the past year and 25 per cent think it will get worse over the next year. This has weakened some of Harper’s strongest …show more content…

Linz (1990, p. 8) suggested “presidential systems can be problematic because it operates according to the rule of "winner take all" which tends to make democratic politics a zero- sum game.” Harper would be at a disadvantage in a presidential system as polls suggest that Harper wouldn’t be elected as prime minister, as stated. Since in a parliamentary system voters vote for the party and its representatives, Harper has a greater chance to gain more votes through the popularity of his MPs and party in the current system than in a presidential

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