Social Institutions of Canada, Research Paper Example

Chapter 11: Political and Economic System

Canada’s political system is embedded in democracy linking a federal system of parliamentary government with these strong democratic traditions. Importantly, this country is considered a constitutional monarchy. The monarch functions as the head of state and dispenses authority. Politically, it is designed within the confines of a multi-party system since many of its legislative practices were derived from the conventions written under the precedents established by Great Britain’s Westminster Parliament (Bickerton, 2009).

Since Canada gained its independence from Great Britain many constitutional modifications were made. Political analysts contend the country has a stronger party discipline than the mother country. For example, a greater amount of parliamentary votes are regarded as motions of confidence. This limits power elite in the the capacity of non-Cabinet Members of Parliament (MPs) manipulating the decision making process (Bickerton, 2009).

From an economic perspective Canada is known to have the eleventh largest economy in the world when compared to other developed nations. It is rated among the wealthiest nations on earth. Service industries are strongly responsible for the wealth manifested in this country’s economic development. These industries include logging; oil, automobile and air traffic which are some of the most prosperous among numerous private sector inventions (Iain, 2002).

Research has proven where Canada has the lowest debt burden within the Northern hemisphere. Multinational corporations are important innovators in maintaining Canada’s high economic stability. The combined exports and imports emerging from Canada’s economic pursuits ranked 8th among developed nations during 2006. Besides industries the country is rich in mineral resources such as coal, copper, iron ore and gold (Iain, 2002).

Chapter 12: Marriage and family practices/structure.

Polygamy is not practiced among contemporary Canadians, where a man has several wives. Homogamy is a more accepted pattern among family life culture consisting of a one wife relationships. In the Canadian context family means any group consisting of two or more persons bound together, over time, by agreed ties of birth and/ or adoption/ placement. They together assume responsibility of physically caring for members of the house hold; new members emerging from adoption or natural birth; socialization of family members (Ruhl, 2008).

The system of descent is usually patrilineal because wives and children take their father’s name and transference of authority moves through the male lineage. 87% of all Canadian families consist of male husband and female wife. They are married since the institution of marriage is considered honorable and sacred within this society. Nuclear married families account for 48% of the married with population those without children are 29%. 13-10% are single parent females with 2-9% males (Ruhl, 2008).

Sociologists have, however, found it difficult defining family within the contemporary Canadian culture. With the influx of immigrants infiltrating their distinct social behavior patterns and family cultural values within the society elements of bilinear structures have been detected. While there is the dominance of a patrilineal system, bilinear and elements of matrilineal have emerged when taking into account the structure and function of modern Canadian family units. Marriage remains the defining institution for forming legitimate family relationships (Ruhl, 2008).

Chapter 13: Education and Religion

When Canadian educational system is evaluated it could be classified a credential society. People attend school obtain a degree or diploma expecting to find jobs. However, society does not guarantee jobs in the area of credential. Hence, the prospective employee may have to seek alternatives to make a living within the society. Heartening reports have been that the Canadian government in 2011 spent $29.9 million on domestic research and development aimed at aligning the educational system with existing demands of the labor force (Schools in Canada, 2013).

While functional literacy is not a social issue among the population manifest as well latent functions within the educational systems need to be redefined ensuring that graduates from colleges and University do not become redundant in their field of expertise. School districts consist of provinces which have elected school boards officials. Their manifest function is to implement policy and curriculum according to guidelines established by the province. However, from a latent function perspective they ought to ensure that curriculum and polices are relevant to social and industrial development within their various provinces. A single school district usually services one or more cities or towns as it relates to the size (Schools in Canada, 2013)

Religion plays a vital role in social placement within the Canadian society. For example, schools can be secular which means there are no religious affiliations or attachments. Alternatively, Catholic or Christian schools exist, which constitute the gamut of Protestant denominations infiltrations into the educational culture in Canada. When Canadians are affiliated to these churches and obtain ‘Christian education’ for them it is achieving a social status distinct from the rest of the non-Christian population. Hence, their social placement of privilege among that community is defined. In certain provinces there are even separate school boards for religious and non-religious schools (Schools in Canada, 2013).

References

Bickerton, J. (2009) Canadian Politics. University of Toronto Press.

Iain, W. (2002). A Geography of the Canadian Economy. Don Mills: Oxford University Press

Ruhl, J. ( 2008). Inukshuk Rising. Canadian Journal of Globalization 1 (1): 25–30.

Schools in Canada (2013). Canadian Education System. Retrieved on May 10, 2013 from http://www.schoolsincanada.com/Canadian-Education-System.cfm