PPAS2110 Group Notes

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School

York University *

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Course

2110

Subject

Political Science

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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21

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PPAS 2110 NOTES RULES OF THE DOC: ● PLEASE DO NOT SHARE YOUR ANSWERS FOR ANY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, QUIZZES, ASSIGNMENTS OR EXAMS ON THIS DOCUMENT ● ADD YOUR NAME TO EACH SECTION OF EDITS SO WE KNOW WHOSE NOTES BELONG TO WHO ● INCLUDE LINKS TO READINGS/LECTURES ● IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES, PLEASE POINT THEM OUT!! Chapter 1: Hanan 1.1 Political Regimes ● The principles of the regime should support the political institutions and vice versa. Regime : The form of government and the underlying political principles that provide the legitimate basis for that form of government. Table 1.1 To What Purpose Do the Rulers Rule – Aristotle's Regimes Who Rules? Common Good Own Interest One Kingship/Monarchy Tyranny Few Aristocracy Oligarchy Many Polity/Constitutional Democracy Democracy Kingship : Aristocracy : Oligarchy : Polity: Democracy : A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. ○ Canada’s democratic regime has been crafted to guard against the dangers of tyranny of the majority. Tyranny of the Majority : ● Two of the most important fundamental principles – Equality and Liberty ○ Also constitutes the foundations of a liberal democratic regime. Equality :
Liberty : A sphere of human thought and action that is private and that within that private sphere all individuals have the right to make choices for themselves. 1.2 Equality and Democracy: Direct Versus Indirect Government ● The fundamental principle of democracy is equality. ● Democracy in its pure form grants political power to all citizens equally (excluding children) as democrats believe that no one has any special title to rule. ● There is no formal political privilege granted to those who come from particular families or to people who own particular lands or business in a democratic region. Direct Democracy: Regimes in which all of the citizens were directly involved in political decision-making by way of political assemblies. Representative Democracy: The equal citizens of modern democracies delegate the responsibility for public matters to a small group of elected representatives. ● Emerged for two reasons 1. Modern democracies are simply too large to be governed by the people directly: while the direct democracies of ancient Greece may have had only a few thousand citizens, the democracies of the modern world have millions. 2. Elections are an aristocratic exercise: to attain office, the candidate has to convince the voters that he or she is the best person for the job. The founders of modern democracies believed that the introduction of representation would minimise the tendency to mob rule observed in the direct democracies of ancient Greece. Parliamentary Democracy: Political decisions are made by a representative body called Parliament. ● A variety of Representative Democracy. ● A regime they thought superior to direct democracy precisely because it was a more limited form of democracy. Republican: A regime in which full and final authority is placed in the hands of the people’s elected representatives and officers. ● Founders of the Canadian constitution took heavy influence from the United States, except for their presidential/congressional as opposed to our British parliamentary government. ○ They were concerned with the American-style indirect democracy being still too directly linked to the people and thus subject to the dangers of mob rule. ■ Presidents, governors, and some judges are chosen directly by the people. ○ Canadian confederation preferred indirect democracy: the votes do not directly elect either prime minister or the Minister of the Cabinet. The decision is made by the Members of Parliament when they take their
seats. ○ The role of the Crown was important as a monarchy of influence in the stabilisation in the democratic government. ○ Canadian political equally is an equality of citizenship. 1. We all have an equal right to run for office. 2. Whoever is elected or appointed to political office must in some way be accountable to the people as a whole for their actions and decisions. 1.3 Liberty Liberal Democracy : A combination of the political principles Liberty and Democracy. Liberty : A sphere of human thought and action that is private and that within that private sphere all individuals have the right to make choices for themselves. Private Sphere : Individuals have the right to make choices for themselves. Liberalism : We are free to do whatever we wish, provided there is no law prohibiting us from doing so. ○ Freedom of Religion, of the Press, Association, and Expression ● Contemporary Liberal Democracies School of Thoughts 1. Natural Rights : All individuals possess certain rights (Liberty, Property, Privacy) simply because they are human beings. ■ Recognized as human rights that are “inalienable.” ■ These rights perced politics and establish the limits and purposes of political power. ● Inalienable : Rights that cannot be given or taken away. ■ Practice in the United States and France 2. Utilitarianism : The importance of liberty derives from its “utility” as a need of providing human happiness. ■ Utilitarians don't believe there are universal and permanently valid “natural rights.” ■ Rights are crafted within each regime in response to circumstances. ■ Harm Principle : Governments ought not to interfere with the actions of individuals so long individuals are not harming others 1. The onus of proof is always on the government to show why any law that limits our individual liberty is necessary. 2. A law will be valid only if it is necessary to prevent some direct harm to other human beings. ○ Drinking alcohol vs Driving drunk. ■ A practice in Britain and Canada historically. ● General Liberal Democratic Principles 1. Protection of the Private Sphere 2. Respect for Minority Rights
3. The Rule of Law ■ Citizens must be able to count on “Law and Order.” ■ The government is not itself about the law. ■ The law must be applied equally and impartially. ■ Every action taken by the government must be grounded in some legal authority. Constitutionalism : The idea that a regime itself must be ordered in accordance with agreed-upon rules that will be supreme. 1.4 Consent and Citizenship ● Liberal democracies are based upon the fundamental idea of consent. Consent : We freely consent to be governed by a particular regime and its laws, we are obligated to obey those laws and in return, the regime is obligated to exercise its authority over its citizens in accordance with the laws that constitute the regime. ■ Canadians have consented to establish a liberal democratic regime. ■ Any fundamental alteration of this regime into a different type would require that the Canadian people give their consent to such a change in order for it to be legitimate, either in the way of their elected governments or directly through referendum. ○ Consent can be granted implicitly or explicitly. ○ Implicitly 1. Growing up under laws of Canada, we expect that the government will obey the law and protect our rights in accordance with the law. 2. We have the opportunity to periodically express our consent in elections at all levels of government and hence indirectly over the laws themselves through our elected representatives. Citizenship : A general right to participate in the regime on those who have consented to accept its authority and abide by its rules ● Canada articles that specific rights and duties of citizens in the Citizenship Act. ○ This failed to include the Indigenous peoples when asking consent. ○ Canada is a Settler-Colonial Regime in the eyes of Indigenous Peoples and a Liberal Democratic Regime in the eyes of its own citizens. ○ Indigenous people were denied the rights to vote in the federal elections (1885-1960) ○ The new Dominion Indian Act ensured every aspect of the lives of Indigenous Peoples was subjected to control of the government- appointed Indian agents. ○ Treaties were signed with the crown and typically involved the transfer of land to the crown in return for reserves, hunting privileges and other benefits. ○ It is often argued that indigenous signatories did not share the
colonial understanding of the terms of the treaty and signed under some form of duress. ○ The circumstances diminished the degree of consent indigenous people gave to others occupation of their traditional territories 1.5. The Canadian Regime ● Equality, liberty and consent constitute the regime principles of all the world's liberal democracies. ○ Sweden, Australia, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Israel ● Canada’s constitutional order was originally designed to blend elements from British parliamentary democracy and American federalism. ○ British parliamentary democracy: the Crown, Prime Minister, cabinet, Parliament, the electoral system and political parties. ○ The American foundations of a constitutional order: federalism, the Charter of Rights and the judiciary. Lecture transcript: Jan 12 In a democratic regime it's important that people know something about the government and are educated. Professor argued civic and careers need to advance to help the public engage more. Prepare and educate students to be active citizens within the political regime. Our textbook argues if the populace is not well educated 2 key things would occur: 1- Passive followers: the public is not informed and will follow the leader and the problem with this is the risk of tyranny/concepts of tyranny mob. Those in control if not actively monitored or watched by the electorate will have undo power. The passivity of the uneducated could be problematic. 2- Public has the risk of being unrealistic around what governments can do and what's possible and what government is for and what powers the government holds. Having an informed public is a very critical component of democracy. Voter turnout in 2021 reached a historic low in the elections. malcolsom argues that regime is whole system , the whole is more than the sum of the parts, moving parts shift within the totality
(not that simple) it's a complicated moving system made up of part and whole - for example fusion of powers in canada: legislative and executive powers being fused within cabinet. In the USA , separation of regime. We will focus on a liberal democracy (Canada) as a liberal democracy this is based on two principles: The principle of equality The principle of liberty The principle of equality: who is equal to vote? Who is equal in running for political office? No one has special title to rule everyone has political equality There are two types of democracy: direct and indirect Direct: a group of people show up for decision making and power, an officer is determined typically by lottery. A parliamentary democracy is more favourable as equal citizens delegate responsibility of public matters to a small group of elected representatives who then form the body of parliament. The ability to participate and run for a political party exists on book, however in practice there are tremendous factors that influence who in fact ends up as a representative in a parliamentary democracy. Textbook argues that founders of confederation favoured the british model of parliament but at the same time they were annex and interested in the USA - in canada there are factors from british democratic model and from the USA The principle of liberty: liberalism - political democracies are based on natural rights - basic human rights. Rights which could be taken away or given. We view it as a natural right which no government should take. We then have the utilitarian mindset - (harm principle) ; shouldn't have laws which prevent individuals from harming themselves but we can have laws which prevent the harm of others. Example: no laws prevent drinking but there are laws placed to prevent you from drunk driving. The textbook calls attention to three rights: Protection of the private sphere: government should not interfere in private matters and matters of the houses of canadians Respect of minority rights: protections around race, religion
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