How Citizens Elect
Governments
Voting
 Voting in an election has been called the single
most important act of political participation.
 Democracies today are:
 representative democracies: a democracy in which
citizens elect others to represent them in
government.
 not direct democracies: a government in which all
citizens directly participate in decision making
without representatives. Ex: Ancient Athens
 Citizens elect representatives to exercise their
power of debate and policy making. Ex: sending
people to war.
Checks on Representatives’
Powers
 Elections are held frequently to ensure that
representatives are responsive to the electorate.
 If a politician does not keep a promise their held
accountable to the electorate.
 Canadian Federal and Provincial Elections must
be held every five years.
 Municipal must be held every three years.
The Election Process
 The Prime Minster (Federal) or Premier (Provincial)
choose the best time to call an election within
the five year limit.
 Elections also occur when a minority government
is defeated in the legislature.
 In a Federal Election the PM asks the Governor
General to call a general election.
 Must be held within 36 days of that announcement.
 Election day is always a Monday unless it falls on a
statutory holiday, which moves it to a Tuesday.
 The chief electoral officer, the head of Elections
Canada, mobilizes the thousands of volunteers
and permanent workers to prepare to election.
 Notices are mailed to voters telling them where
to vote. Ex: neighborhood church or school.
 Canada has permanent voter’s list drawn from
gov’t income tax information, drivers licenses.
 Election day
 By law you’re given 3 hours to vote in your job.
 Show ID>get a ballot>named check off a list>
go to booth>choose candidate by marking
X>drop ballot in box in front of poll clerk.
What it looks like
Who Can Vote?
 Gotta be over 18 years old
 Must be a Canadian citizen
 Same for provincial elections with requirement
that the citizen be a resident of the riding or
constituency where the voting is taking place.
 Constituency: the body of voters represented b an
elected legislator or official.
Who used to be able to
vote
 In 1867, the year of Canadian confederation, the
vote was limited to make, British citizens over the
age of 21 who owned property.
 Excluded were women, renters, minorities and
Aboriginal parties.
 Denying the right to vote (the franchise) has
been used as a weapon.
 Ex: 1885 Asians denied right to vote, WW1
conscription crisis, 1918 women granted the
franchise.
Canada’s voting record
(not so good).
 Post 2000 election chief electoral officer
proposed possible law requiring citizens to vote.
 2004 election voter turnout 60%.
 In Australia voting mandatory and 94%.
 Also compulsory in Belgium, Greece.
 Should voting in Canada be compulsory?
Political Parties in Canada
 Most of Canada’s political history dominated by
the Liberal and Conservative parties.
 19th century (Conservative), 20th century (Liberal),
1930s NDP formed.
 To form a majority government, a party must win
one-half of Canada’s 308 ridings plus one more
(155).
 a minority government: one that governed and
proposed legislation, but was dependent on the
support of other parties.
Canada’s Political Party on
the Spectrum
Two-Party and Multiparty
Systems
 If Canada had only two parties, every
government would be a majority government.
 Advantages: clear choice between two leaders and
two parties.
 Disadvantages:
 Offers stability (no minority governments)
 Ex: US, GB, New Zealand, Australia
 Multi-party system
 Advantages: offers a wider choice of policies
 Disadvantages: less stable
FPTP vs PR
 Our voting system is called the First Past the Post:
an electoral system in which the candidate
with the most votes wins, even if he or she
receives less than 50 percent of total votes;
sometimes called “simple majority.”
 Some believe it should be replaced by
proportional representation: an electoral system
in which the number of seats each political party
wins is in proportion to its share of the total vote.