Liberal Democracy/Constitutional Democracy PDF

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY/ CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY  LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 1. WHAT IS LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY? 2. CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS A. EQUALITY OF POLITICAL RIGHTS B. MAJORITY RULE C. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION D. POLITICAL FREEDOM 3. PROBLEMS ...

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY/ CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY  LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 1. WHAT IS LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY? 2. CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS A. EQUALITY OF POLITICAL RIGHTS B. MAJORITY RULE C. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION D. POLITICAL FREEDOM 3. PROBLEMS  LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY WHAT IS LIBERAL/ CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY? A political system that combines Liberalism/Constitutionalism + Democracy ‒ Protection of rights/freedoms + majority rule ‒ People rule themselves within constitutional constraints  LIBERAL/CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY Liberalism ‒ Freedom and equal rights ‒ Individualism Democracy ‒ Self-government/rule of the people/majority rule ‒ Tyranny of the majority ‒ Conformism ‒ Not rule of the best  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS A. EQUALITY OF POLITICAL RIGHTS B. MAJORITY RULE C. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION D. POLITICAL FREEDOM  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS A. EQUALITY OF POLITICAL RIGHTS Vote ‒ One person one vote ‒ Initially limited to propertied white males Run for political office Serve on Juries ‒ Devlin’s ‘little parliaments’  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS FEDERAL PROVINCIAL ♀ RIGHT TO VOTE IN CANADA 1916 1916 - AB, MB, SK 1917 - ♀ in the military (+ w/ military 1917 - BC, ON family members) 1918 - All eligible ♀ citizens Did not include: 1919 - NB, YT 1920 Chinese Canadians Japanese Canadians 1922 - PEI Status Indians 1925 - NL 1930 1940 1940 - QC 1947 - Chinese Canadian citizens 1948 - Japanese Canadian citizens 1950 1960 1960 - Status Indians (1965 in AB)  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS RIGHT TO VOTE The legal right to vote may not guarantee the ability to cast a ballot ‒ Voter suppression  Changes in registration, identification requirements, polling locations  Disinformation re: polling dates/locations  Violence/intimidation  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS A. EQUALITY OF POLITICAL RIGHTS (CONT’D) Freedom of speech ‒ “thought belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communications” Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CCRF) s.2(b) (see Appendix B in your textbook) Freedom of conscience and religion CCRF s.2(a) Freedom of association CCRF s.2(d)  CENTRAL CHARACTERISTICS B. MAJORITY RULE Less than a majority = PLURALITY ‒ The candidate with the largest number of votes, even if