Outline the relationship between political (specifically, Cabinet and First Minister) and administrative (specifically, bureaucratic) actors in Canada’s Westminster system.
In your answer, be sure to outline:
the general role of each actor;
the role of each actor in decision-making; and,
the accountability of each actor.
Then, identify one potential weakness or challenge to the relationship between political and administrative actors in Canada’s Westminster system. Finally, develop an argument how you would address that challenge/weakness that you identified.
It is impossible to provide an estimated length for an ‘A’ answer. The best advice is to layout your answer and be sure to answer all the points above carefully. Also, be sure to have a clear and forceful thesis early on in your essay.
The question will be sufficiently broad to allow students to concentrate on the topics that they want to explore. However, students must ensure that when answering the question that they draw on the course materials (i.e. students who opt to discuss cannabis legislation, while interesting, is not part of the course materials so be sure to draw on the material that you have learned such as the role of Cabinet, role of public servants, how municipalities fit into how government works in Canada (or does not fit!), etc).
Essays must have a clear, concise and forceful thesis statement along with a proper introduction and conclusion. The essay is meant to be an argumentative exercise, not a descriptive exercise, so be sure to develop a logical and coherent argument. The essay questions will be broad, and not narrowly focused, to allow you to develop an argument. I encourage you to review the overall learning objectives of the entire course which include:
It is not possible to estimate the length required for an A answer, but one paragraph is very, very, very unlikely to be enough. Please do not ask what the required length is because each writer is different: some are more succinct, some are not so it is impossible to answer this question with any precision, but ideally 12-15 paragraphs should be sufficient (remember, a paragraph can not consist of just one sentence).
course materials:
Thinking government
Issues in Canadian governance
Craft, Jonathan, and Amanda Clarke. Issues in Canadian Governance. , 2018.
Johnson, David. Thinking Government: Public Administration and Politics in Canada. , 2017.
