CANADA Is Canada one of the most democratic countries in the world?

Is Canada one of the most democratic countries in the World?

Introduction

Although the term democracy has often been used in the literature, there has not always been consensus as to its meaning. The literal meaning of democracy comes from a combination of two Greek words, demos (people) and kratos (rule; Robertson, 1985), and at its core, “Democracy is a form of government in which the people rule” (Sorensen, 1993, p. 3). The term originated in Athens and was a part of the standard classification of “regime forms that distinguished rule by one (monarchy), several (aristocracy), and the many (democracy)” (Miller, 1987, p. 114).

“The democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote” (p. 260). Another, more exclusive definition, offered by David Held, who argued that “democracy entails a political community in which there is some form of political equality among the people” (Held, 1996, p. 1). The existence of equal rights (and, accordingly, equitable obligations) is the leading feature of political democracy.

Discussion

In the conventional language of today's political science, Canada is a prime example of a democracy because of its political stability, free elections, and extensive civil liberties. I, however, mean to imply something deeper with this question. Democracy, in its Greek roots, means “rule by the people,” but are Canadians the ones who are calling the shots in Canada. Is this democratic, parliamentary system truly democratic? If you think these are just musings of a far-left socialist unsatisfied with bourgeois democracy, think again. For now, there are thousands of Canadians asking themselves this question. In the last two weeks, we've witnessed two events that have cast doubt over people's trust in this “democratic” system.

First, after the House of Commons voted for a very moderate Climate Change Accountability Act, it was the unelected Senate that killed the bill without debate in a snap vote. Parliamentary experts say this is the first time in at least 70 years that the Senate has killed legislation from Commons without a hearing. U.K. commentator's point that evens the House of Lords in their country has not done this for years (Stephen, 2009).

Than Stephen Harper's Conservative government, with implicit support from the Liberals, decided to skip over the Commons for a decision that was apparently ...