The Future of Democracy in Canada
Consider the following claim: "Canada will become a more democraticcountry in the next 25 years". One might take exception to this claim,countering that Canada is not only a democratic country in 2004, but is acountry whose democratic character is envied in most parts of the world.Conversely, within Canada, one does not need to dig too deeply in societyto find people who are dissatisfied with the state of Canadian democracy. This dissatisfaction is not limited to embittered followers of the farright political parties who almost continually are unable to persuade amajority of Canadians to support their policies. Nor is thisdissatisfaction limited to Quebec and French speaking communities in otherprovinces who their culture and values to be under threat from theonslaught of Anglo Canadian culture. In fact, pockets of serious politicaldissatisfaction exist across the country. Unfortunately (in the context ofbeing able to pursue their objectives effectively, the only issues on whichconsensus typically develops among these pockets of dissatisfaction is on(a) opposition to a Conservative national government and (b) opposition to The fact that political dissatisfacti
Such an electoral system assures that a wide variety of issuepositions are heard. Thecandidate attaining a majority of first place preferences then is declaredas the winner. Such an assumption, however, is only partially correct. The elite pluralist model, however, holds thatdemocratic values are preserved in Canada through a system of multiple,competing elites. Macionis (62-67) contends, however, that technological innovations incontemporary Canadian society will alter this power balance. Incontrast, the masses are the many people who cannot wield power within asocial system. The growing importance ofthe Internet can change this power balance. As already noted, there are pockets of political dissatisfactionacross Canada. According to Ajzenstat "by abandoning our current modes of debate andrediscovering the Enlightenment liberalism that is an enduring part of ourpolitical tradition we will help to recreate Canada as a place of debate onfundamentals, not one in which a monolithic definition of identity answersall questions in advance" (166). MostCanadians who harbor some degree of political dissatisfaction are notgoing to pursue political reform in a vigorous manner unless they believethere is some chance of success from such an effort. Rather, the twofactors are, to some extent, interdependent. Power, in this context, represents the prerogative to makethe decisions as to who gets what, when, and how. Even in a democracy, such astoday's Canada, a few exercise a relatively great weight of power, whilethe many exercise hardly any at all. on in Canada tends to bebalkanized, however, does not imply that the situation is eitherunimportant or that political reform should not be implemented to redressthe problem. The reformed political system inCanada must provide a mechanism that allows these other voices to be heardin full.
Common topics in this essay:
Duffy Pupo,
Anglo Canadian,
France European,
Canadians Framing,
According Ajzenstat,
Democrats Canada,
Charter Rights,
Davis Moore,
Conversely Canada,
Liberal Party,
political reform,
democratic country,
canada democratic,
canada democratic country,
political dissatisfaction,
proportional representation,
meaningful political,
social stratification,
meaningful political reform,
elite pluralist,
canadians tend,
majority preferences,
proportional representation system,
elite pluralist model,
political reform succeed,
|
Acceptance Essays
