Democracy
A complex response to a simple question
“Who should rule?”
Who wins an election?
Tories:
177,744
Liberals:
176,410
Sometimes the Liberals stand to gain...
2004 % vote % seats
Liberals 37 44
Conservatives 30 32
NDP 16 6
Green 4.3 0
And sometimes the Conservatives stand
to gain...
2008 % vote % seats
Conservatives 37 46
Liberals 26 25
NDP 18 12
Green 7 0
And like Shawn Graham in New Brunswick,
sometimes the ‘wrong party’ wins...
1999 % vote % seats
Conservatives 36 48
Liberals 40 40
Objectives
Explore three different ways democracy has been
used and examine direct vs. indirect democracy
democracy as contested term
Does it mean anything anymore?
What is its etymology?
“Democratic government means people freely chosen by
and responsible to the governed”
John Plamenatz
Democracy as sovereignty of the
people?
Who are the people?
Who should rule?
What rules govern who should rule?
Democracy as ‘majority rule’ or
rule of groups?
How do we balance competing minority interests
with the interest of the whole?
Can the majority be wrong?
Democracy as having a moral
justification
based on ‘the general will’
provide checks and balances on competing interests?
Summary...
Sovereignty of the people
majority rule or group rule
moral justification
Direct vs. representative democracy
democracy as process
Assumptions that underlie direct democracy
Direct Democracy
avoids politicians mob rule?
encourages participation? role of expertise?
true reflection of public? difficult to implement
Our version of representative democracy
is called liberal democracy
liberal democracy
personal freedom -- silence of the law
liberal democracy
limited government
liberal democracy
equality of right
liberal democracy
consent of the governed
Is liberalism a cause of our political malaise?
Taylor’s malaise of modernity
The ‘problem’ of individualism
shutting out or being unaware of greater issues
me generation? culture of narcissism? ipod culture?
Taylor’s malaise of modernity
The primacy of instrumental reason
faith in technology over humanity
means over ends
Taylor’s malaise of modernity
Alienation
‘soft despotism’: Tocqueville
‘enclosed in their own hearts’ means no participation in
government
problems in advanced democracies
(according to Taylor)
hypertrophy
Do we have too much of a good thing?
problems in advanced democracies
loss of meaning (fading of moral horizons)
eclipse of ends
loss of freedom
What do these results tell us?
What is to be done?
The need for ‘strong democracy’
civic education
collective interests
politics as an end in itself
what are the solutions?
the need for real participation
how to get an engaged citizenry?
does pursuit of private interests = public good?
contradiction between representation and freedom
democracy is more than what we do during elections.
Do we practice politics
as ‘zoo keeping’?
civil society as a ‘jungle’
state to keep different species apart
Do we practice politics
as ‘zoo keeping’?
consumer who is self-interested and acquisitive
freedom to pursue the most banal ends
Solutions?
The importance of communication
Strong democratic talk
articulation of interests
persuasion
agenda setting
exploring mutuality
affiliation and affection
What do these respond to?
that liberalism does not create the right kind of
community
atomism
that liberalism does not create enough community
How do we accomplish this?
Neighbourhood as public space
Jane Jacobs and the failure of new urbanism
Democracy in the work place
Volunteerism
Prospects for Democracy
“Man, by nature is a political animal,” Aristotle
In order to have good solutions, we need to ask
good questions.