Political Science Reforming Liberalism Question Answer 2022

I would like you guys to answer all 5 questions 8 pages single spaced please and thank you 1. How is reform conservatism closer to reform liberalism? Explain this by analyzing the characteristics of classical and modern conservatism and liberalism. How do you observe this closeness from the centrists in conservative party and center rights in liberal party of Canada especially from the events leading to 2018 elections in Ontario? 2. What are the fundamental differences between a party and a pressure group? Explain the features of single party system, bi-party system, multi-party system, a two plus party system from your book. Is Canada a two plus party system or clear multi-party system country? 3. How is referendum different from election? What is the electoral system of Canada? Do you support a proportional representation system in Canada? If yes, why? If not, why? Explain. 4. Can polls or public opinion influence politics? If yes, how, if not, why not?

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Title: Political Science
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Q1. How is reform conservatism closer to reform liberalism? Explain this by analyzing the
characteristics of classical and modern conservatism and liberalism. How do you observe
this closeness from the centrists in the conservative party and center rights in the liberal
party of Canada especially from the events leading to 2018 elections in Ontario?
Liberalism is a term used to describe a political philosophy or Worldview founded on the
basis of ideas of liberty and equality. Classical liberalism can be defined as an ideology belongs
to liberalism and emphasize on securing freedom of an individual by limiting the power of the
government whereas modern liberalism is combining social liberalism with support of social
justice and mixed economy (Nussbaum, 2011). Economic liberalism, egotistical individualism,
maximize utility, negative freedom, individual responsibility, Free-market economy, etc. are
falling under classical liberalism while modern liberalism covers social liberalism, personal
growth, positive freedom, social responsibility, enabling state, managed economy, etc. In reform
liberalism, it is believed that it is a legitimate function of the state to ensure that all citizens are
provided with a set of rights and services along with an opportunity to maximize their potentials.
Conservatism can be considered as, “Seek to preserve things as they are emphasizing
stability and continuity. If classical conservatism is asked, then it is an ideology that highlights
the representation of the past as well as the well-being of the present by following the
hierarchical system, a limited local government and humanitarian leaders for a stable society
(Villeneuve, 2014). People are responsible for their own actions and laws are made to benefit
society as a whole are the common view carried by the government under conservatism. Modern
conservatism is based on four elements, liberty, conservative philosophy of tradition and order,
rule of law and belief in God.

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There are different approaches of conservatism are based on tradition and social stability,
stressing established institutions and preferring gradual development to abrupt changes, whereas
liberalism follows the essential goodness of the human race, the autonomy of the individual and
standing for the protection of political and civil liberties. Conservatism has ideas of
implementing changes gradually and increasing or maintaining church power and Liberalism
support public education, sharing political power amongst the president, legislature and judiciary
and decreased the church power.
In the economic realm, there is a need for privatizing, deregulating and empowering an
individual citizen to get communism, socialism, fascism and the welfare state. With the reform
conservatism, there is a formation of enemies resulting in fights and some hard issues is always
ducking deeper. It is better to find and recruit some new true believer in reform conservatives
(Béland & Waddan, 2019). The Canadian Conservative Party can be taken as Republican Party
because it has typically followed a reactionary system of British “Tory” rather than individualist
and liberal.
Q2. What are the fundamental differences between a party and a pressure group? Explain
the features of a single-party system, bi-party system, multi-party system, a two-plus party
system from your book. Is Canada a two-plus party system or clear multi-party system
country?
When a group of people comes together with a similar political ideology, it is known as
the political party. A pressure group or interest group can be defined as a group of individuals
who promotes and defends common interest and opinion to achieve a common objective. In
common, words, political parties are responsible to the people and formal in nature, whereas

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pressure groups are not always accountable to the people and informal in nature. The difference
found between political parties and pressure groups are based on size, organization, related to
function, aims or objectives, and applied respect of the method. In a political party, any person
can join or leave the party of their choice while pressure groups are only limited to workers
(Pruysers, 2016).
In single-party system, the power is given to only one party and an individual is
nominated by the voters with only two choices of not to vote at all or write “yes” or “no” to the
candidate. North Korea, Cuba like countries are an example of a Single-party system. In a two-
party system or a bi-party system, the power to rule on the nation is divided between two
dominant parties through which strong decisions can be taken and implemented easily. In this bi-
party system, there are fewer chances of corruption and more chances of development (Béland &
Waddan, 2019). For example, Unites the States of America and the British Parliament. The
Multi-party system is one of the common political party systems followed in Australia, India,
United Kingdom, and Norway like countries (Gaylord & Rennó, 2015). In this party system,
there are three or more parties work together in the country. This party system does not allow
any single party to gain power or control of the government alone and it is difficult to keep all
the parties happy related to power. Finally, it can lead to political instability in the country. There
are two major parties controlling the government, but one or more parties do have the ability to
win seats, but no power or control is given to them and it is called as two-plus party system
(Nicholson et al., 2018).
Canada is a country that follows a multi-party system because of the influence of the
New Democratic Party or Bloc Québécois parties. Previously, there were only two parties during
the first half-century of Confederation and it had represented the fragmentation of Canadian

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society because no values were given to Canadian farmers. The Canadian party system can be
represented as an unstable party system due to different voting rules and federal systems (Kim,
2010).
Q3.How is referendum different from the election? What is the electoral system of
Canada? Do you support a proportional representation system in Canada? If yes, why? If
not, why? Explain.
The referendum is a ballot question that only gives the option to answer in “yes” or “no”
to any proposal and it can be implemented by the government. On another side, the election
offers an opportunity to choose a representative for further formation of representative
institutions and government. In any democratic system, the election is mandatory and it
commonly happens in every 4-5 years of the time period. The referendum can be mandatory or
advisory and it may result in the adaptation of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment,
law or any specific government policy. With the election, a new government can be formed that
have the ability to implement their manifesto policies (Flynn, 2011). The election is a process
where a person or individuals are chosen to govern them and filled the legislature offices. The
results of the referendum may or may not be accepted by the government while election results
need to be welcomed by the authorities involved in it. For example, Referendum can be
explained by the UK decision of leaving the EU and US process of selecting the president is the
election process.
The electoral system of Canada is similar to that of the United Kingdom, that is First Past
the Post system. In this electoral system, the person received more votes is selected as winner
through the votes of voters. There are two series of the election, one for selecting the desired

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candidate from each party and other is too general voting that leads to the formation of the party
in power (Boatright, 2014). The winner party can be declared as a majority government when it
wins the election with more than 50% of the seats. If the party receives less than 50% of total
votes, then it has to work with parties to get the power to work for the nation and it is known as
Minority government. Coalition government can be described as when there is no majority and
one party agrees to join another party and run the government. There are five major political
parties in Canada, which are Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic, Bloc Québécois, and
Green party. There are total 350 seats available for election in which 50 seats are reserved for
visible minorities and underrepresented groups and rest 300 available for competition in between
major parties.
The proportional representation electoral system is a system in which parties gain seats in
proportions to the numbers of votes cast for them. This system can be achieved by adjusting the
weight of each Member of Parliament's vote primarily and the second vote is collected on the
ballot to identify the percentage of voting support for each party. The information collected from
this is applied to the weighting system to the votes of elected MP's. Canada is better with First
Past the Post System because in a proportional representation system, there will be a formation
of minority or coalition governments only and these types of the system may cause instability in
the country along with confusion (Alcantara & Roy, 2014).
4. Can polls or public opinion influence politics? If yes, how, if not, why not? Explain this
from your reading in the book and from your experience of elections in Canada. How does
Media influence politics? What is the power of electronic media for any mass movement as
it is happening in many parts of the world?

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Definitely, public opinion and polls are affecting the politics in many aspects. With the
public polls and opinions, the view of how we feel about any issue or project as well as who will
win the election can be explained. Public opinion can be defined as a set of attitudes, sentiments,
and feelings of the person collected at a personal level and combined to express particular views
and preferences. Public opinion and polls give access to government about the acceptance and
support of the public to the current government as well as to other parties, views of citizens about
the current problems and issues experienced, to understand the population thoughts about the
newly formed policies, etc. Polls are one of the important influencers of Canada Election because
depending on the polls, many voters are casting their votes to any party. The results of polls are
affecting the expectations along with the preferences of voters about the various party’s chances
of winning in the election (Akimov & Minkova, 2019).
Media is another sector producing a great impact on politics like full TV coverage about
the election on CNN network or Fox News. There is a total of three ways through which media is
influencing the politics-
1) By influencing the political opinion of voters,
2) By determining the behavior of candidates and officials, and
3) By setting the public agenda.
The questions like, What and who should I vote for? Creates a confusion in the minds of
voters about the election. There are many names of candidates who are successful only because
of the back support of media to them (Knopf, 2010). An example of President Franklin
Roosevelt can be taken because he was having a session called, Fireside chats, in which he was
in conversation with citizen over the phone call about the depression and situation occurred

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during the war. The different media sources are providing details about the social problems
going to the country and media can set an agenda about which issue can be highlighted more and
which can be ignored. This can lead to the rearrangement of government priorities.
The link between the government and citizens can be only formed with the application of
the mass media as it explains, informs and tries to get support from the government about its
programs and policies (Arsenault, 2017). The mass media is a powerful tool that is used to
convey and promote the right things and strong messages at the right point of time through
television, radio, newspaper, magazines, journals, etc. The globalization can be achieved without
any boundaries of different societies and cultures through the mass media only. People can easily
receive details and information about what is happening all over the world (Salgado, 2018).
5. Discuss the differences between violence, revolution, and terrorism. What are the stages
of revolution? Who are the terrorists? How to counter-terrorism? Give your own opinion.
Any act that is directed or aimed at causing significant harm can be called violence. It can
be physical, verbal, passive, etc. It can either be used against an individual, a group, and/or
community. The world revolution means changing or turning around in a very profound way. It
is a strong word that suggests a change that is brought about, generally, in political organizations
or governments. Terrorism, on the other hand, is more concerned with the political agendas only.
It is a deliberate act of violence against the common people so as to send a message to the
authorities.
There are four stages of revolution as given by Crane Brinton (Edublogs, 2017)-

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 Incubation stage- It reveals the symptoms before the outbreak. For example- economic
crisis, weak rulers, defeating the armed forces by the revolutionaries, and more.
 Moderate Stage- It is the stage of compromise and reformation.
 Crisis Stage- This stage witnesses the rise of violence control of the revisionists. The
councils can be formed and people often see the death of justice.
 Recovery Stage- the last stage of the stages of revolution is recovery. It signifies the end
of the revolutionary rule and it generally ends in two scenarios, i.e. war or peace
(Edublogs, 2017).
Terrorists are the people who carry out the acts of terrorism to ruin a country’s peace and
hinder its development. These are the people who want to see the nation hurt and bring a
situation of crisis and chaos. Any individual who proceeds with the activities that might lead to
unrest in the public because of the acts of violence and jeopardizes national security can be
tagged as a terrorist.
In 2006, the UN Assembly adopted the Counter-Terrorism Strategy. It is concerned with the
national, regional, as well as international efforts to counter-terrorism. It is reviewed every two
years and has four pillars. It is an annexed plan of action (A/RES/60/288) (UN Global Counter-
Terrorism Strategy, 2016). The four pillars are:
1. Addressing the conditions that may result in terrorism.
2. Taking steps to prevent and fight terrorism.
3. Taking steps to build the states’ capacity to prevent and fight terrorism and to strengthen
the role of the United Nations in that aspect.

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4. Taking steps to make sure that human rights are respected for all and the rule of law is
treated as the fundamental basis to combat terrorism (UN Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy, 2016).
In my opinion, terrorism can be countered by being alert and attentive towards and suspicious
activities. In fact, such things should be reported as soon as possible. However, the best defense
is a good offense. Preparedness is the best option to handle terrorism. The government should
take initiative sand steps that can enable the general public to put up a fight against the deadly act
of terrorism.

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References
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Arsenault, A. (2017). The datafication of media: Big data and the media industries. International
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Béland, D., & Waddan, A. (2019). Unidentical twins: recent social policy developments in
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