"The study of politics is the study of the influential. The influential are those who get the most of what there is to get." – Harold Lasswell

"Politics is the science that teaches the people of a country to care for one another." – William Lyon Mackenzie

The course material is organized into four categories: conceptual framework; historical overview; institutions of government and politics; provincial public policy.

The polity is the sphere of activity in which people combine in collaborative decision-making for the authoritative allocation of values. It is distinguishable from the economy and civil society, though it influences and is influenced by those spheres.

Understanding the meaning of political processes and outcomes can be enhanced if we see them in context – the context of the economic, social, geographic. cultural and historical conditions in which events have occurred and are occurring.

1. What are the economic and geographic factors of greatest consequence for Ontario politics?

In addition to other cultural factors, is there a "political" culture of the province? What do we mean by the term, and how do we go about measuring it?

1. Definitions – Material or ideas? Microscopic or macroscopic? Contemporary or historical?

If culture is conceived in "material" terms, it is seen in concrete institutions; if it is conceived in terms of "ideas" it will be measured by looking for indicators of what people believe

If culture is addressed "microscopically" it will be measured in terms of the actions or views of individuals or small groups; if it is addressed "macroscopically" it will be measured in terms of society-wide features, whether ideal or material.

If culture is seen as a contemporary phenomenon, we will attend mainly to its manifestation in the present day. If it is seen as historically grounded, we will attend to critical points in the province’s history when the culture was developed.

 

2. Contents – Has Ontario a culture of its own, by the definitions above? Of what does it consist?

Are there ideas or institutions that constitute "normal" practice of politics in Ontario? Are there values and expectations that we can point to as stable over time and fundamental to Ontario political life?

3. Impact of values on politics?

What evidence is there that political actors are motivated by values – whether in the form of culture, ideology, or even opinion?

4. Why do we seek explanations in "culture?"

If we conceive of political actions as wholly determined by material conditions, we have a number of anomalies that require explanation. We have to acknowledge a degree of "agency" in our subjects – the capacity for independent decision-making. We presume that what people believe helps to determine what they choose to do. The concept of political culture is intended to reflect the degree of orderliness and stability we sometimes find in such beliefs.

Over the next couple of weeks we will briefly review Ontario political history. One of the most significant questions deriving from the historical review is what has been the changing pattern of provincial state activity – i.e., what has been the scope of the provincial state and how has it changed over time, and in response to what influences?

1. Pre World War II – limited scope and scale
2. Post World War II – expansion of welfare state with post-war federal commitments (Marsh Report), post-war economic boom, post-war baby boom
3. Urban growth
4. Industrial growth
5. Immigration
6. Changing role of labour
7. Breakdown of the post-war consensus?
8. Neo-liberalism in the 1990s, 2000s

Why study the history of Ontario politics?

1. Roots of some present-day conflicts can be seen in past
2. Traditions beget values, expectations
3. Occasionally political appeals call upon past images, events
4. Historical analysis helps separate myth from fact in political rhetoric
5. Knowledge of the past lends perspective to study of the present