Democracies........What You Always Wanted to Know....And Then Some

If you haven't already checked out Dropbox, I did put the answers to the activity that we completed on Thursday.  You will need that completed this week, so please make sure  that you have it done and in your notes for class.  As well, the notes that you need for Monday and possibly Tuesday are already in Dropbox.

On a completely side note to what we will be talking about in class, I strongly encourage you to be paying attention to the situation in Ukraine, specifically in Crimea region (which is a peninsula that is geographically part of Ukraine, but ethnically there is a large Russian population).  This is a situation that we can monitor from afar, as it does not directly deal with our region.  However, if the situation escalates, there is the potential for a conflict to develop between multiple nations.  Last week, it was announced that there would be a referendum in Crimea about whether or not they wish to secede (break away) from Ukraine.  Our Foreign Affairs minister, John Baird, has stated that Canada's position on this referendum would be that we will not accept it, seeing as 10 days is not enough time to hold a vote, especially while Russia is occupying the region.  I also was listening to CBC radio (because I am that cool) and heard one caller's perspective that this whole situation has been engineered by the United States and NATO from the actions of both over the last 60 years - an interesting perspective that does make sense.  Listen to the radio and news; read blogs; read articles; look at multiple perspectives.  This is history in the making and it's important to look at this from more angles than what mainstream media tells us to.

The following video is a good discussion on why we need democracy...

What Shall We Be Covering This Fine Week?

Monday 

• Democracy Introduction video with Questions
• Go through the basics from Thursday - you will need that large colourful sheet you filled in with pictures, as well as the notes printed off from Dropbox
• Vocabulary - Representative Democracy, Representation by Population and Proportional Representation 
• Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracies

Tuesday

• Electoral Systems - introduction video with questions
• How can we be represented - Rep by Pop vs Proportional Representation
• Please bring a calculator, colouring tools and a protractor
• What's Your Vote Worth Article
• Which is the best system?

Wednesday

• Vocabulary - Minority Government and Majority Government 
• Canada's Electoral System vs. American Electoral System
• First Past the Post, Electoral College, Constituency/Riding

Thursday

• Rants by  Denton  and Melissa - I know somebody else asked to go this week, but I couldn't remember who :( I am only perfect 99% of the time
• Voter Apathy - How do we deal with it?

Friday

• REFORM Friday - Our system isn't perfect, so why not change it? 
• Senate Reform
• Partisan Politics Reform