Do we need rights all the time in a democracy?

Last week in class, we analyzed what some of the drawbacks were to a democracy. A large setback to having an efficient democracy is to have EDUCATED citizens. One of the things that John Locke really focused on was the accountability of your government. If people are not active participants who are informed and engaged in the democratic process, it becomes extremely easy for the government to do things that are not always what the people want; hence, they are not accountable. 

This video highlights the issues that occurred in Ukraine 2 years ago that led to protests for months in Kiev

When people think of democracy, the cornerstones that most frequently come to mind are voting and rights and freedoms. We've looked at voting. Now, we will be looking at rights and freedoms. This brings us (sort of) back to Mill's ideas of balancing rights and freedoms for the good of society. Democracies limit individual freedoms in the name of the greater good. But WHAT IF that limitation is unjustifiable? Is preserving that democracy in a time of crisis more important than preserving the ideals of that society? What if you are in a time of crisis? Does that change anything? 

Look at 9/11:

The US has legislation that was passed after 9/11, following the terrorist attacks, that allowed the government to have increased power of surveillance and gave authorities more power to determine if Americans or others were threats to the security of the nation. To preserve the democracy, rights need to be limited, which makes sense. If you can't protect the very institution that will preserve your rights and freedoms, then you risk losing it. But is that right? Or is there limitation?

This week will start with looking what our rights actually are in a democracy to better understand what can be limited and taken away. Remember what we were talking about at the end of last week (and will be finishing on Monday) - are there times when our government maybe knows a better course of action that we are not aware of? Or are our rights and freedoms something that should never be toyed with? Who knows best?

SO how will we look at that this week?

Monday: 

• Finishing last week's Notes - the balance between public opinion and practicality
• If you didn't watch at least one of the videos last week about public opinion, it would be good to watch at least one of them
• Discussion: Revisiting Churchill's quote from day 1 of this lesson - was he right?

Tuesday: 

• Rights
• Individual Rights
• Universal declaration of Human Rights

• Should there be limitations in Canada?
• Discussion Question: Should human rights trump a country's sovereignty to run itself the way it wants to? Should democracies take a stand against countries that have a poor human rights record?

Wednesday:

• Collective Rights
• History behind them - Imposition of Liberalism 
• Do we still need them?
• Are they unfair?

• Are collective rights against the ideas of democracy?

Thursday: 

• Rants by Joule and Jessica 
• Safety and security vs. Rights and freedoms - which is more important?
• A look at the life of Omar Khadr

• Look at our legislation - what can our government do?
• Look at Bill C-51 and where it came from
• Start watching video on Patriot Act rights restrictions

Friday

• Finish watching the video
• Practice Paragraph #6
• This is the LAST practice that you will be doing before your "mini diploma"
• Social 30-1 - You will be doing another argument/evidence paragraph. You will be given a source, as for Assignment II, and you will need to develop a thesis and write ONE paragraph that contains ONE argument with sufficient evidence to back it up
• Social 30-2 - You will be writing the defense of position for Assignment 3 - you will be giv ing your own answer the question in the assignment, backing up that answer with reasons/arguments and sufficient evidence, both from the sources provided but also from class as well.

Finishing the Failings of Democracy and Starting to Look at Rights and Freedoms

Last week, we started to analyze the downfalls of democracy. One of the first things that we looked at is the idea of VOTER APATHY, a danger that Montesquieu warned against in his theories - there is nothing worse than a democracy where voters are apathetic; you might as well have a dictatorship. The issues that voter apathy brings up is that while it is your right to vote, is it truly a representative government if almost half of the population chooses not to vote? As well as not being representative, when you are given the freedom to vote and you choose not to, you are letting somebody else make decision for you - is that really democracy? Another issue we talked about in class was the fact that many people are disengaged from the whole process because of not really knowing anything about the elections or a feeling that their voice doesn't matter. This then becomes an issue for democracies to tackle - how do you change this mindset, as it is dangerous to the foundations of a democracy?

We looked at two possible solutions. The first was mandatory voting, which the majority of the class saw as an even worse problem in a democracy than not voting. Most of you believed that this would lead to an even more skewed democracy because people would be making uninformed choices. Furthermore, if the very premise of a democracy is choice and freedom, then it is counter intuitive to force people to vote. The second solution that we started looking at was the idea of an Elite Democracy. In this solution, only a certain part of the population would be allowed to vote. This could become something along getting a "license" to vote - only those who know what is going on and understand the system are allowed to exercise their right to vote. In countries where voting rates are 60% lower, is this an issue or not? Do you want the uninformed to make decisions that affect your life just because they have the right to, but don't care about the impact of their decisions? However, limiting rights that are constitutionally protected also goes against the values of liberalism. How do you take away the right that everybody associates with democracy? Click on the link below to see some of the basics of what an elite democracy can lead to.

This week, will finish looking at the Elite Theory of Democracy and then finish up with the downfalls of democracies. We will have a recap of the pros and cons of democracies and then, if we get a chance, we will start looking at rights and freedoms and how and if they should be limited.

What's the Week Looking Like?

Tuesday:

• Finish going through slides on Elite Theory of Democracy
• Political cartoon interpretation 2
• Self-Assessments of last two paragraphs - they were returned Monday morning if they were submitted on Google Classroom

Wednesday:

• Influence of Lobby Groups and Special Interest Groups

Start watching around the 3 minute mark for interest groups specifically

• Canada's Top 10 Lobbying Groups (as of 2012)

Thursday:

• Rants by  Kayla and Nolan
• Public Opinion vs. Practicality
• Who is more qualified to make the decision for the country if it is a democracy?

Friday:

• Consensus Building and the influence of public opinion
• Questions from textbook (2 questions)
• In-class writing assignment for second 40 minutes - you will need a device or do a paper copy
• 30-1 - You will be writing the relationship paragraph from Assignment 1
• 30-2 - You will be writing the opinion part from Assignment 2
• There will only be 2 more weeks of rough draft paragraphs before you will complete a writing assignment for marks - your fake "mini" diploma

Here's how things work in North America

As I have been stressing all this week, this is your week to be working through material on your own. The expectation is that you will be going through this, and any review of this material will have to be decided upon a meeting time after school, as we will not have the time to cover this amount of info during school next week.

Here is what you will be doing this week:

Monday:

• Watch the video below and fill in the worksheet provided for you.

• Look at the Handout: Who is Canada Modelled After. ou can create your own google doc (there is a PDF copy in google classroom, which also has the two sources that you will need) or you can write down the information in your notes.Use the following websites to help fill in the following information in the chart. This is to be done ON YOUR OWN.

• Enlightenment Democracy
• Influence of the Enlightenment on American Democracy
• Canada's System of Government
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on American Democracy
• Next use BK, ?, I to interpret the two sources attached to the handout
• Debate: Which do you think had more of an influence on North American Democracy - the Iroquois or the Enlightenment?  - This is an assignment on Google Docs

Tuesday and Wednesday: 

• Watch the video below and fill in the worksheet provided for you.

• For the next two days, you are working through the following information to describe what a democracy is. 

• First, read the notes from Google Classroom on Parts of a Democracy and Democracy Need to know. You can use the Power Point "Basics of Democratic Political" as a place to write notes, especially regarding the differences between Canada and the United States. You can also write notes in your scribblers, but you need to go through BOTH the Power Points Basics of Democratic Political System and Democracy Need to Know

CANADA: 

• As you watch the videos, fill in information in the Power Point in Google Classroom that says Canada's Government

AMERICA: 

• As you watch the videos, fill in information in the Power Point in Google Classroom that says America's Government
• Complete the Google Doc Assignment that describes the different types of democracy

Wednesday and Thursday: 

• Once you have completed looking through the videos and readings for the political structure of Canada and the United States, you will begin to look at the electoral systems that we have. You can continue to write notes in your scribbler or Basics of Democratic Political System Power Point. 

• To begin with, read the article from Google Classroom that says Canadian and American democracies, paying close attention to how people are elected/selected for their positions.
• From this and by watching the videos, make notes regarding how Canadian leaders and American leaders are elected.

CANADA:

AMERICA

• Watch the video below and fill in the worksheet provided for you.

• When you have completed this, you can answer the question on Google Classroom about the better system.

Friday: 

• For the first half of class, complete any of the above information that you have not completed. 
• Then, your weekly writing paragraph is on Google Classroom to complete. 30-2's you are writing for Assignment 2; 30-1's you are writing for Assignment 1.
• These paragraphs MUST be turned in by midnight. There are paper copies for you as well, which Mr. Quinn will give to you.

The Building Blocks of a Functioning Democracy

This week, we are going to look at the very building blocks of what makes up a democracy - what do you need to have to be considered a democracy. What that will include is a look at the principles of liberalism and how they affected Enlightenment thinkers, whose ideas are the cornerstone of many modern democracies. However, in North America, there were already thriving democracies in existence when European philosophers were still spreading their ideas. As such, we need to look at both aspects that affected the creating of our democracies in North America. Part of that discussion will revolve around the political ideologies that were influenced by the principles of individualism (aka: liberalism), as well as looking at Indigenous democracies and how they affected our political structure. By looking at the basics of our political beliefs 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.

What are we up to this week?

Monday:

• 15 minutes to finish your "title page" for characteristics of Individualism and Collectivism
• Go through the pages and the notes on Individualism and Collectivism
• Notes on creating of Liberalism
• Renaissance, Reformation and Revolution

Tuesday: 

• 20 minutes to finish the Ideologies Worksheet you started Week 1 - categorizing as Individual or Collective in nature

• Characteristics of Democracies
• Notes
• Activity that will require Glue and Scissors
• Go through the answers to the activity

Wednesday: 

• What influenced North American Democracies?

Watch this video about the formation of American Democracy

• Look at the Handout: Who is Canada Modelled After. Use the following websites to help fill in the following information in the chart. This is to be done ON YOUR OWN.
• Enlightenment Democracy
• Influence of the Enlightenment on American Democracy
• Canada's System of Government
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on American Democracy
• Next use BK, ?, I to interpret the two sources attached to the handout
• Debate: Which do you think had more of an influence on North American Democracy - the Iroquois or the Enlightenment? 

Thursday: 

• Rants by Emma and Harmony 
• Article Reading activity - Why is liberalism necessary for democracy?
• You will need different colours of highlighters or pens for this
• Different Types of Democracy - All the terms you need to know (notes)

Friday: 

• YOU NEED YOUR DEVICES SO YOU CAN WRITE YOUR WEEKLY PARAGRAPH
• Electoral Systems Compared - FIRST HALF OF CLASS ONLY
• US Electoral College
• Canada First Past the Post

• Google Classroom Writing Assignment - Paragraph 3, due midnight Friday, but you really should be aiming to write one paragraph in the 40 minutes given

What's in a Democracy?

As we finish talking about the basics of all ideologies, we will begin focusing on the political aspect of our course, which should take us roughly about a month and a half. We will be analyzing a few different types of democracy and how representation is selected, the purpose of having a democratic government to protect rights and freedoms (should this always be the case), and the opposite of democracy, which would be our different types of dictatorships. As we go through this unit, it is important to understand how and why a democracy upholds or doesn't uphold the values of liberalism. 

This week, you will be looking at the key values of a democracy and which are the most important. As well, you will be looking at what influenced the creation of democracy in Canada and the United States and why we value what we do.

So What's Up For This Week?

Monday:

• Worked on philosopher quote questions

Tuesday: 

• Notes on Spectrums - different types and the vocabulary - what does it all mean??

• Potentially a Multiple Choice Questionnaire....
• Notes on Individualism and Collectivism - the basics of all ideologies

Wednesday:

Watch this video about the formation of American Democracy

• Look at the Handout: Who is Canada Modelled After. Use the following websites to help fill in the following information in the chart. This is to be done ON YOUR OWN.
• Enlightenment Democracy
• Influence of the Enlightenment on American Democracy
• Canada's System of Government
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on American Democracy
• Next use BK, ?, I to interpret the two sources attached to the handout
• Finally, write a paragraph that explains which you think had more of an influence on North American Democracy - the Iroquois or the Enlightenment. This should be at least 3/4 of a page long, double spaced. The paragraph can be handed in on Monday
• DON'T Forget: Your project is due on FRIDAY next week!

Thursday:

• Rants by Chelsea and Molsen
• Finish going through the basics of ideologies - you will potentially need scissors and glue, if the rants do not go too long...

Have a great long weekend!

The Beginning of Social Studies 30 aka: All you ever wanted to know about life :)

Social 30...that wonderful course that you have anticipating for for the last 12 yeara is finally here, AND it's first thing in the morning! In all actuality, I love Social 30 and it really does have a lot to do with what you will encounter for the rest of your life. It is a great course to get into, if you want to, and can really help you understand how our society functions and to question whether or not how we run things is the best way possible.

I will be doing a "Modified Flipped Classroom", where there will be opportunities for you to deepen your understanding of the course content. What that means is that each week, I will try to put a new blog posting up by Sunday night to outline what we will be doing in the coming week. I will put links to powerpoints, slides, videos, websites, updates into Google Classroom and so on that, over the course of the week, you can look at to enhance your learning of the content. Once my projector is up and running, it is up to you to print off your notes if you want paper copies or to download digital copies to follow on your device. Ideally, the large portion of the intricate content would be what you look up on your own. Now, I know that looking up history is not everybody's cup of tea. However, by doing the background knowledge at home, it allows us to use the time in class to work on your skills to understand the knowledge = you will practice skills that will help you to be successful on your diploma in class, rather than focusing on knowledge. This is not to say that there won't be specific knowledge presented in class; it simply means to gain a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the course, I will provide you with information to help better prepare you.

Videos, such as the one below, are great background knowledge to what life was like before individualism came around that we are definitely not going to be able to cover in class. So, it is up to you whether or not you watch it.  But I really think you should :)

This blog will also let you know what we will be doing for the week, so it will be an agenda for what we are to get through.

So what's in store for the rest of this week?

Wednesday

• Philosophers of the Enlightenment - the European men who greatly influenced the development of Classical Liberalism
• Adam Smith
• John Locke




•  Jean Jacques Rousseau


• John Stuart Mill






• Thomas Hobbes
 


•  Voltaire






• Monstesquieu 

• Karl Marx




• Class notes on Philosophers
• Activity - placing philosophers on the spectrum
• Matching time! Fun! As always! Don't deny it!

Thursday

• Vocabulary: Radical, Reactionary, Liberal and Conservative
• Spectrum notes
• How do we interpret sources? BK, ? and I
• What is a political system and why do we need one?

Friday

• Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Parts of each of them
• How do they affect a political system/government structure
• Second Half of Class - Second Writing paragraph so you NEED your computers/iPads/something you can write on and access google drive from

Philosopher Videos

For each of the philosophers, you are going to watch the videos and determine the important information about them by filling in the slides provided for you. Once you have finished that, we will go through any additional things to add about these men and their ideas and how they relate to liberalism.