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Democracy is one of the attributes of this country that Canadian citizens are proud of, it is an essential part of the national identity. A democracy is a political system where all eligible citizens of voting age in a country have the right to participate in making the decisions that affect them, their families and their future. In Canada, the people of voting age elect politicians that represent them and make choices in the different levels of government on their behalf, this kind of democracy is called a representative democracy(1). Canada has many qualities of a well-functioning democracy, such as independent courts, open and free elections, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, access to education and healthcare, but there are still aspects of Canada’s democracy that need to be improved and changed. Overall, Canada is not a well functioning democracy because the government is not truly representative; we have an unelected head of state, the Prime Minister is not directly elected by voters, and there is no proportional representation. …show more content…
A position of government that should be changed is the Governor General.
As a former British colony, Canada’s government is still impacted by Britain in the present day. Our head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but since she has duties in the UK, she needs a representative, the Governor General. David Johnston is the current governor general of Canada and he was not elected, he was appointed by the Queen. (Give examples of their power/duties). As someone who has the power to make these important decisions in our government, the Governor General should be elected by the citizens that are impacted by their choices. In a well functioning democracy, all people in high levels of power in the government would be elected in order to represent the interests of the
citizens. Our democracy would function more efficiently if the Prime Minister was elected directly by voters. Initially, the individual parties elect a leader to represent them in the federal election. Therefore, canadians have little say in the selection of leaders. Also, In elections citizens vote by riding, not by popular vote. This means that provinces are divided into different regions and canadians vote for the members of parliament that are within their riding (elaborate). Whichever party wins the most ridings wins the election. In a well-functioning democracy, voters would have a larger say in who the leaders of the parties are and (elaborate). Another problem with Canada’s democracy is that there is no proportional representation. In federal elections the first past the post system is used (elaborate), which means that a majority government can be formed with the minority of the votes. This is problematic because it does not represent the majority of voters and gives smaller parties little chance of gaining prominence. Changing the first past the post electoral system to a more proportional system would benefit smaller parties, like the Green Party(2). If Canada’s government was well-functioning, it would have proportional representation. Canada is not a well-functioning democracy because the government is not entirely representative. The head of state is a monarch who has an unelected representative, called the Governor General, that makes important decisions in politics. The Prime Minister of Canada is not directly elected by voters, as the head of the each party is chosen by the party members and canadians vote for members of parliament in their ridings. There is no proportional representation, as the first past the post system allows a majority government to be formed with the minority of the votes. A representative democracy that does not represent the interests of its citizens is not a well-functioning democracy.
Canada runs on a democratic model of governing based on the British parliamentary system. Its parliament is thus divided into two chambers: the House of Commons and the Senate. Elected politicians are seated within The House of Commons while the Senate occupies qualified citizens which are appointed by the Prime Minister. Parliament’s purpose is to hold responsibility for passing legislations and the choosing of government, referring to the political party with the largest amount of seats. Depending on the results of the election, Canada has the potential of having either a majority, minority or in the rare case a coalition government. Customarily, an election in Canada usually ends up forming a majority government. The party with more than
The history of Canada was flooded with many influential and incredible events, particularly during World War 1 and World War 2. During the 20th century, Canada got more involved in worldwide events. It was a very important period for Canada; it was where they gained their independence and progressed as a country. After this century, Canada was considered an important and powerful country. The three main 20th century events in Canadian history are the battle of Vimy Ridge, the change of woman’s rights and the battle of Juno Beach.
...n of their cabinet, while others may choose to create a new political path without consulting the views of their party. Mellon thinks that the Canadian government is under dictatorial scrutiny, whereas Barker contradicts this belief. The idea of a prime-ministerial government is certainly an over exaggeration of the current state of Canada. There are too many outside and inside forces that can control the powers the Prime Minister of Canada. Furthermore, there are several outside sources that indicate a good government in Canada. The United Nations annually places Canada at the top, or near the top of the list of the world’s best countries in which to live. These outcomes are not consistent with the idea of a one ruler power. Canada is not ruled by one person’s ideas, suggestions, and decisions, but by government approved and provincially manipulated decisions.
In conclusion, Canada is held strong with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As citizens know their rights and freedoms they can help change the shape of Canada by Charter Challenges. Changes move
The Prime Minister of Canada is the head of government and is appointed by the Governor General. Canada is the northern neighbor to the United States, and the Queen of England is its head of state. These powerful countries being so closely tied to Canada makes it a major player on the world stage, and gives considerable power to its Prime Ministers. There have been twenty-two Prime Ministers, with John Diefenbaker being the thirteenth, serving from 1957-1963, and Pierre Trudeau the fifteenth, who served 1968-1979 and again 1980-1984. Diefenbaker was a progressive conservative, a right-center group associated with British imperialism.
Canada is a society built on the promise of democracy; democracy being defined as “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” In order to operate at full potential, the people of Canada must voice their opinions and participate fully in the political system. This is why it’s shocking to see that people are becoming less engaged in politics and the voter turnout has steadily been declining over the last 20 years. This lack of participation by Canadians is creating a government that is influenced by fewer people, which is detrimental to the democratic system Canada is built on.
What principles and ideals lie at the heart of a free democratic society? Canadians take pride in their country’s values of tolerance, inclusion, and respect, and over Canada’s guaranteed freedom of expression, including the right to vote (Thevenard & Orend, 2015). In democratic Canada, “all eligible citizens have the right to participate, either directly or indirectly, in making the decisions that affect them” ("Democracy Defined"). Voting, in essence, ensures all citizens receive an equal opportunity to express their views by selecting and supporting a political party of their choice. Such an approach provides freedom of expression for all eligible citizens, allowing for the political party with the most votes to take over the ruling.
It is cold hard fact that Canadian government is not entirely democratic. The question remains of how to deal with this. Canadian government, as effective as it currently is, has major factors in their system that have a negative effect on Canadians. Our current voting system favors the higher-populated provinces and creates a tyranny of the majority. Our Senate is distinctly undemocratic as it is an assigned position. Our head of State, the Prime Minister, holds too much power. Unless we resolve these issues, our government will remain far from a perfect governing system.
Different states have various ways of ruling and governing their political community. The way states rule reflects upon the political community and the extent of positive and negative liberty available to their citizens. Canada has come a long way to establishing successful rights and freedoms and is able to do so due to the consideration of the people. These rights and freedoms are illustrated through negative and positive liberties; negative liberty is “freedom from” and positive liberty is “freedom to”. A democracy, which is the style of governing utilized by Canada is one that is governed more so by the citizens and a state is a political community that is self-governing which establishes rules that are binding. The ‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ allow Canada’s population to live a free and secure life. This is demonstrated through the fundamental freedoms, which permit the people to freely express themselves and believe in what they choose. Canadians also have democratic rights authorizing society to have the right to democracy and vote for the members of the House of Commons, considering the fact that the House of Commons establishes the laws which ultimately influence their lifestyle. The tools that are used to function a democratic society such as this are, mobility, legal and equality rights, which are what give Canadians the luxury of living life secured with freedom and unity. Furthermore it is safe to argue that ‘The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’, proves the exceeding level of efficiency that is provided for Canadians in comparison to other countries where major freedoms are stripped from their political community.
First, some background on the subject. Canada is divided into 308 ridings, and each riding elects one person to represent all the citizens in that riding. The party that wins the most ridings forms the government, and if that party has gained more than half the seats, as is usually the case, they form a majority and have the ability to pass any bill in the House of Commons that they wish, regardless of the opinions that other representatives have. This SMP system has remained unchanged in Canada since Confederation in 1867. On the other hand there is proportional representation, which is broken down into two main forms: Mixed Member Proportionality (MMP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV). MMP was first put into use ...
The Prime Minister of Canada is given much power and much responsibility. This could potentially create a dangerous situation if the government held a majority and was able to pass any legislation, luckily this is not the case. This paper will argue that there are many limitations, which the power of the prime minister is subject too. Three of the main limitations, which the Prime Minister is affected by, are; first, federalism, second the governor general and third, the charter of rights and freedoms. I will support this argument by analyzing two different types of federalism and how they impact the power of the Prime Minister. Next I will look at three of the Governor Generals Powers and further analyze one of them. Last I will look at the impact of the charter from the larger participation the public can have in government, and how it increased the power of the courts.
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
Democracy has come to mean a principle under whose flag has most of the developed countries aced in their race for Imperialism. It has gone beyond all previous governing systems and has made room for progress and development. By offering free and fair elections, democracy has redefined human dignity and patriotism. It has also helped to improve decision-making among the citizens, and brought down the crime level. Democracy is for sure the most fitting among the other types of government, and needs to be implemented fully for effective functioning of a state.
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.