The Pitfalls of Democracy

Last week, we were looking at the basic aspects of democracies and how they functioned properly.  But, like all ideologies, democracies don't always work out EXACTLY like they claim to - and that is largely due to how and how much citizens get involved in their system.  For example, is Canada more or less democratic than Ukraine? Would Canadians protest for months if our government made a decision that most of us disliked like what happened in Ukraine last year? Or would we even notice or know about the government decisions? So, we will be analyzing what makes a democracy less functional.

Also, another good link to compare Canadian and American systems.

So what will we be covering exactly this week?

Monday:

• Casey's Rant
• Source Interpretation from last week's notes
• Pros and Cons of Democracy - Video and Article
• Vocabulary: Voter Apathy
• Dealing with the voting issue - notes and textbook

Tuesday:

• Vocab: Elite Theory of Democracy
• Notes
• Should everybody get to vote?
• Source Interpretation

Wednesday:

• Vocabulary: Interest groups, Tyranny of Majority, and Tyranny of minority
• What impacts the democratic process - notes
• Case Studies: Public opinion vs practicality

Thursday:

• Rants: Trevor and Carly
• Reform in a democracy - why is it essential
• One Page write up - Should the Senate be reformed or abolished in Canada?

Friday:

• How Democracy created a monster 
• Rejection of liberalism - dictatorships