The
politics of Canada function within a framework of
parliamentary democracy and a
federal system of
parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions.
Canada is a
constitutional monarchy, in which the
Monarch is
head of state. The country has a
multi-party system in which many of its legislative practices derive from the unwritten
conventions of and precedents set by the United Kingdom's
Westminster Parliament. However, Canada has evolved variations: party discipline in Canada is stronger than in the United Kingdom and more parliamentary votes are considered
motions of confidence, which tends to diminish the role of
non-Cabinet Members of Parliament (MPs). Such members, in the government
caucus, and junior or lower-profile members of
opposition caucuses, are known as
backbenchers. Backbenchers can, however, exert their influence by sitting in parliamentary committees, like the Public Accounts Committee or the National Defence Committee. The two dominant political parties in Canada have historically been the
Liberal Party of Canada and
Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors), however, the social-democratic
New Democratic Party (NDP) has risen to prominence, and even threatened to upset the two other established parties during the
2011 election. Smaller parties like the Quebec nationalist
Bloc Québécois, and the
Green Party of Canada have also been able to exert their own influence over the political process.