ABSTRACT
This essay focuses on the actions of Canada’s Liberal Government under the leadership of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950) between the years 1921 and 1930. Specifically, it examines the rhetorical and ideological strategies employed by King and his supporters both inside and outside Parliament to limit the power of Canada’s upper chamber, the non-elected Canadian Senate. Overall, this essay argues that, between 1921 and 1930, the King-led Liberals drew on the concept of the democratic mandate, or the idea that the Canadian People as a unified body had selected the governing party and its leader to speak on its behalf, in order to bolster their own political standing and limit the ability of the Senate to hinder the Liberal Government. More broadly, this particular case study demonstrates how governing parties in Westminster systems employed democratic concepts, such as the mandate as a means of solidifying their own position while limiting any opposition from the upper chamber.
