Democracy exists as an institutional imaginary; it is implicit in our society's systems and it is how we believe society operates. As an imaginary, democracy is existential, normative, and utopian. It is existential in that we believe we have it and that it exists; normative in our belief that it's essential to human rights - the idea that everyone has a right to a vote and voice; and utopian in the way that we expect living in a democratic society to inherently make everyone within the society equal and their voices important and heard. However, it is evident that we live in a hegemonic society where a specific social group benefits much more through our government than other groups.
The lack of democracy in North America was exemplified by Canada's most recent federal election and much of the media surrounding it. The following links explain how to vote "strategically" in your riding in order to remove Stephen Harper from power:
http://www.strategicvoting.ca/
https://www.votetogether.ca/
Most of the ridings end up with suggestion to vote Liberal. The united effort to rid Canada of Harper's power seems to oppose the idea that Canada is a democracy, especially when you are left with only one political party to vote for if you desire a change.
Democracy is meant to allow the citizens to choose who they want to run the country; recent events imply that Canada's democracy only allows its citizens to choose one person they do not want in power. There aren't many options, which means many Canadians are denied a voice.
How many of you voted for the party/candidate whose platforms you supported? How many of you voted strategically? And do you think that democracy still exists in contemporary society, or do we need to work to restore it?
The lack of democracy in North America was exemplified by Canada's most recent federal election and much of the media surrounding it. The following links explain how to vote "strategically" in your riding in order to remove Stephen Harper from power:
http://www.strategicvoting.ca/
https://www.votetogether.ca/
Most of the ridings end up with suggestion to vote Liberal. The united effort to rid Canada of Harper's power seems to oppose the idea that Canada is a democracy, especially when you are left with only one political party to vote for if you desire a change.
Democracy is meant to allow the citizens to choose who they want to run the country; recent events imply that Canada's democracy only allows its citizens to choose one person they do not want in power. There aren't many options, which means many Canadians are denied a voice.
How many of you voted for the party/candidate whose platforms you supported? How many of you voted strategically? And do you think that democracy still exists in contemporary society, or do we need to work to restore it?
I didn't sign up for those strategic voting emails, however I did vote for a candidate I might not have otherwise voted for if it weren't for all this talk of strategic voting.
ReplyDeleteI think it is sad that voting has turned from political preference to some kind of puzzle where you have to balance your morals with a strategy to vote in the "least bad" candidate. Makes me think that democracy definitely needs to be restored.
I definitely see where you’re coming from; in a democracy we don’t have much of a choice, we simply choose who makes major decisions for us. This may sound extremely radical but I think once a president or prime minister is elected we should be able to vote upon major federal dilemmas. I don’t think it’s enough to elect a prime minister but then not have any power when it comes to major decisions.
ReplyDelete