Unit 9.docx

Is an unelected Senate acceptable in a modern democracy like Canada? Learning that the prime minister appoints senators is one of the most surprising things I have learned in this unit, and I disagree with it. First, it is not democratic in the sense that people can directly express their political...

Is an unelected Senate acceptable in a modern democracy like Canada? Learning that the prime minister appoints senators is one of the most surprising things I have learned in this unit, and I disagree with it. First, it is not democratic in the sense that people can directly express their political preferences (Garner et al., 2022, p. 58). This is especially surprising given that citizens in some countries such as the United States elect senators themselves. Second, it contradicts the accountability function of legislatures (Garner et al., 2022, p. 213). Appointed senators are not accountable to voters, whereas elected ones are. This undermines the credibility of the Canadian parliament. Third, this raises issues of representation, a primary function of parliaments (Garner et al., 2022, p. 201-202). A more diverse parliament has improved with the Liberal government. However, an unelected senate may invite biases on the prime minister′s part and favor people of certain backgrounds that citizen voting could mitigate. For example, after the 2019 election, there was only one Indigenous minister. In short, this aspect of Canadian parliament may be a key flaw in Canada′s democracy. References Garner, R., Ferdinand, P., Lawson, S., & Macdonald, D. B. (2022). Introduction to Politics (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press Original: Despite Canada currently operating under an unelected Senate, this practice should no longer exist. In a modern democracy, like Canada, an elected senate fails to properly reflect the needs and wants of the individuals. The Canadian Senate has come under increasing scrutiny for being unrepresentative and not as legitimate as it could be (Garner, 2022). It was “designed to be a ‘house of sober thought’” (Garner, 2022, p. 218), which in theory is a good idea. It allows for a re-evaluation of all decisions made by the House of Commons and could act to ensure that the decisions keep the people in mind. However, this is only possible if the Senate itself is an accurate representation of the people. A way to make this possible could be for candidates to be selected by the Governor General, as they are now, and then elected by the people to be appointed to the Senate. Thus, this would allow for qualified individuals to, in a sense, run for Senate similar to how it is in the US. This is a potential solution for an ongoing problem of the illegitimacy of the Senate. Reply: Hi, these are all great points. The alternative of adopting a model like the US is an interesting idea. The NDP proposed abolishing the Senate altogether in 2015 but was turned down (Garner et al., 2022, p. 207). While this is an extreme measure, it raises questions of how much Canadian parliament is open to change and willing to consider different viewpoints, which is key for democracy.