Section 1 Summary

Section 1 Summary

In Section 1, you answered these questions:

How do economic systems impact political decision making?
How do political decisions impact economic systems?

Canada's social programs are an important part of Canada's distinctiveness from the United States. The Canadian government provides a social safety net to protect persons in need and to provide quality, universal services such as health care and education to all Canadian citizens. All social programs cost large amounts of money. As a result, the government collects taxes from Canadians to fund these social programs, especially sales tax, income tax, and corporate tax.

Social programs and taxation are influenced by societal values and economic philosophies. In general, both the Canadian government and Canadian society value the use of taxes to pay for social programs. Government and society in the United States value less government involvement.

The level of government involvement can change depending on the political party in power. Political parties in Canada and the United States each have their own economic platforms that describe their policies and values. Both the Conservative Party of Canada and the Republican Party in the United States believe that less government involvement is best for the economy. The Liberal Party of Canada and the Democratic Party in the United States think that government involvement is important in ensuring a strong economy.



In the next section, you will explore how economic and political decisions about the environment can affect quality of life and what you can do as a citizen.

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