Democracy vs. Dictatorship

This week, we are going to look at the very basics of what makes up American and Canadian democracy - what do you need to have to be considered a democracy.  By looking at the basics of our political beliefs, and comparing it to those of the American's, it will help to determine whether the system we have in place really is the most effective or not. 

When we think of democracy, the thing that most people think about is having elections and voting. But there are many different things that make up a democracy and knowing those helps to make you a more informed and contributing member of society. Like Montesquieu said, "The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so  dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy."


As citizens in a democracy, we have a lot of rights and freedoms. However, there is the obligation of being a contributing member of society, but not all people know what that looks like. So this week, we will look at what our roles are in liberal society, what values come with democracy, how North American democracies were created and compare the political structures of the United States vs Canada, as we have two different types of democracies. Hopefully, we can look at electoral systems this week as well, which will make next week an opportunity to look at the downfalls of democracy.

On Thursday last week, we started looking at Canada's system of government.

Another Democracy and Its Separation of Powers: Austria

What will we be doing this week?

Monday: 

• Finish notes on Canada's Democratic system and Electoral System

• America's Political Structure and Electoral System

• Go through Dictatorship for Dummies Project and pick a due date

Tuesday: 

• Finish going through the American System
• Assignment: Compare and contrast the American and Canadian political systems

• The Alternative: Proportional representation

Wednesday: 

• Finish notes on Proportional Representation
• Another alternative: Mandatory Elections

Thursday: 

• Rants by Rebecca and Patricia
• Practice Writing Assignments:
• 30-1 - Assignment 1
• 30-2 - Assignment 1

OR

• Work on dictatorship projects
• Be aware that if there is little to no work done on either writing assignment or the projects (ie: a significant proportion of the class is snap chatting, just talking, talking about trucks, texting people, looking at instagram, etc) there will be NO further class time given to work on practice writing or your projects. It will ALL become homework, no exceptions. There is too much to get through for a large proportion of students to be wasting class time doing nothing.

Friday: 

• Dictatorships: start the notes that are the basis of what dictatorships do

What IS a Democracy?

We have all grown up being part of a well established democracy and everybody in our classroom doesn't know a Canada where the Charter of Rights and Freedoms didn't exist. Since we have all grown up with having individual rights and freedoms protected for all people, sometimes it is hard for us to remember or think that hasn't always been the case in Canada. And, I hear it every year, how boring it is to learn about Canada, its history and the government. BUT despite having learned a lot about our country for 12 years of education, it is surprising the number of people who know very little about our political system and how it works. If they did know more, you wouldn't have people saying that it's okay for Kevin O'Leary to run for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada because "it's not like he's running for Prime Minister." I don't want you to be that person and that's why this second half of the course is so important. 

Let's rewind a little bit to philosophers from the beginning of the semester. One of the most important things that Montesquieu said was that for a democracy to truly function, the people need to participate and be active citizens; having an apathetic democracy is worse than having a dictatorship. So all that information that you learned about Canada is culminating in this year: you've learned about your country for the past 11 years so that you can be a proud, educated and active participant in it. And if you didn't learn things from then, it's even more important to learn them now 😁. 

But we are going to start with baby steps and make sure that we all understand the foundations of democracy. This should take about a week or two to get through the information. Here is a quick introduction:

So what will we be doing this week?

Monday: 

• Review: What do you know about Canada's democratic system?
• Key factors of democracy - you will need scissors and glue for this part of the class

Tuesday: 

• Notes: What does political liberalism mean and what are its values?
• Implementation of political liberalism: The French and American Revolution

French Revolution Video and impact of the Enlightenment

American Revolution Video and impact of the Enlightenment

Wednesday: 

• Article and Focused Reading: Democracy and Liberal Values
• Democracy - What is it and what are the different types?
• Electoral Systems: What's Your Vote Worth??

Thursday: 

• Rants by  McKinley and  Joey 
• Practice Writing:
• 30-1: Practice Writing Assignment 2 - work on thesis and writing an argument/evidence paragraph
• 30-2: Practice Writing Assignment 3 - work on either analyzing the issue/interpreting perspectives OR write your defense paragraph
• REMEMBER: YOU WILL BE DOING ESSAYS FOR MARKS NEXT WEEK, ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY!!!!

Friday: 

• Economics Exam - strictly Multiple Choice. Please don't wait until Thursday to study

The Evolution of Modern Economic Liberalism

Before spring break, we looked at both the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. But, like I said in class, there is no country that has used either one of these ideologies exactly the way in which the theory  said it should be used and the circumstances that it should be used in. Because of that, most economic systems and ideologies are actually a mixture (hence the term mixed economies) of aspects of capitalism and communism. A more right-wing economic system will have more aspects of capitalism - lower taxes, less government services, mostly if not all private property and a greater focus on self-reliance while following a free market. A more left-wing economic system will have more aspects that lead towards communism - higher taxes that are used to provide greater government services to give people a social safety net, public ownership of major industries and corporations, a focus on cooperation to ensure economic equality. As significant events happen in the economy affecting production of goods and service, as well as job security, governments make decisions on what is the course of action to take to solve the problem. Often, the decisions will be a departure from the current economic philosophy to something different only to find the shift back to the original view years later. The point is, as the economy changes, so do economic philosophies; this is why we call it the evolution of modern economic thought :)

One of the first steps in this evolution was the implementation of Welfare Capitalism and the Square Deal. This week, we will look at several other huge economic events and how they helped our economic theories evolve in North America.

So what will we be learning this week?

Monday:

• Shift from Welfare Capitalism to the Welfare State

How it started: The Roaring Twenties

• Notes: The Great Depression in the US

Tuesday: 

• Keynesian Economics - New Economic Theory

• Implementation of Keynesian Economics: FDR's New Deal

The New Deal

Wednesday:

• Expansion of Modern Liberalism - Social Awareness
• As economic liberalism evolved, so did people's desire to help those less fortunate than them
• This evolution spread into society in the hopes of protecting as many rights as possible
• Practice interpreting sources

Thursday: 

• Rants by Cheyenne and McKinley
• Practice writing paragraphs
• 30-1 - Assignment I - You choose to write 2 paragraphs. You can either write to interpretation paragraphs OR an interpretation and relationship paragraph
• 30-2 - Assignment I - One paragraph explaining one of the characteristics for the topic

Friday: 

• Changes that occurred after the Great Depression - Notes

• Canada's Economic System

• Social Programs
• Progressive Taxation