Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Reminder: You should all be using/checking your Laurier account – this is the one we will use to contact you.

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "Reminder: You should all be using/checking your Laurier account – this is the one we will use to contact you."— Presentation transcript:

1 Reminder: You should all be using/checking your Laurier email account – this is the one we will use to contact you. dvannijnatten@wlu.ca yshamsie@wlu.ca dvannijnatten@wlu.ca yshamsie@wlu.ca dvannijnatten@wlu.ca yshamsie@wlu.ca

2 Tutorial#1 will take place during the Weeks of January 21 st and 28 th Make sure you know which tutorial you are registered in – tutorial dates/times/locations are listed in “Tutorials” folder of MLS tutorials meet every two weeks (not every week) Tutorial readings and tasks posted on course MLS – under “Tutorial#1” folder – make sure that you do the readings and prepare before your Tutorial

3 Section A Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (see below)Weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (see below) #Day / Time / Room# 123456123456 W / 9:30-10:20 / P2027 W / 10:30-11:20 / P2027 W / 11:30-12:20 / P2027 W / 12:30-13:20 / P2027 W / 13:30-14:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB 2-108 789101178910111 W / 9:30-10:20 / P2027 W / 10:30-11:20 / P2027 W / 11:30-12:20 / P2027 W / 12:30-13:20 / P2027 W / 13:30-14:20 / P2027 Section B Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (see below)Weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (see below) #Day / Time / Room# 123456123456 W / 14:30-15:20 / P2027 W / 15:30-16:20 / P2027 W / 16:30-17:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB 3-105 W / 18:30-19:20 / P2027 789101178910111 W / 14:30-15:20 / P2027 W / 15:30-16:20 / P2027 W / 16:30-17:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB 3-105 Wee k DateWee k Date 3Jan.21-254Jan.28-Feb.1 5Feb.4-86Feb.11-15 7Feb.25-March 18March 4-8 9March 11-1510March 18-22 11March 25-2912April 1-5

4 Tutorial Participation Tutorial participation is worth 10% of final grade – grade out of 10 will be awarded for each Tutorial, five grades out of 10 to be averaged at end of term – if you miss a Tutorial, grade of “0” is awarded and factored into average – you will receive 4/10 for attending – the other 6 marks will be allocated on the basis of your participation! – no Tutorial make-ups

5 Core Concepts in Political Science – Review from Last Day Politics – originates in conflict over scarce resources and/or differing values, between groups in society who want different things – is the activity of resolving this conflict – always involves the exercise of power = the ability of one actor (or group) to impose his/her will on others coercion, authority, influence

6 Core Concepts - cont’d power influences the resolution of conflict, i.e., some individuals/groups win out over others Government – is the conflict manager, makes and enforces collective decisions

7 Point of clarification: What is the difference between ‘the State’ and ‘Government’?

8 “The State” is all of these things The law An institution/set of institutions A sovereign entity An internally recognized entity A group of people An idea

9 Government Is specialized activity of those individuals and institutions that make and enforce collective decisions in a state Is both a set of activities (occurring over time), and also a collection of institutions that carry out these activities

10 So then what is ‘Democratic Government?’

11 How Democratic are We? Democracy = (Gr: demos, kratein) January 15, 2013

12 http://democracyweb.org/new- map/

13 Freedom House “Map of Democracy” Each country is rated on a seven-category scale, 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free – 1.0-2.5 = Free; 3.0-5.0 Party Free; 5.5-7.0 Free Two foci: – political rights: enable people to participate freely in the political process, including the right to vote, compete for public office, join political parties representatives are accountable to the electorate – civil liberties: allow for the freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, personal autonomy and individual rights

14 http://democracyweb.org/abou t/fiw1.php http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?pa ge=22&year=2006&country=7084

15 Democracy is... 1) A set of ideals about how government should work, what the role of citizen is in the political system AND 2) A set of procedures and institutions guiding operation of government, participation of citizens

16 Democratic Ideals Can you name any?

17 Popular Sovereignty Sovereignty = supreme authority in a political community Popular = people are source of all political power, have right to overrule other bodies – can “throw the rascals out” – your text: “power in some way rests with the people” (p.61)”

18 Political Equality Idea that each individual citizen (regardless of gender, race, etc.) carries the same weight in voting and other political decision-making – measured by extent to which citizens have equal voice in governing Why important? Political activity is means by which we inform our governors of our interests, make them responsive to us

19 Majority Rule Idea that, if each vote is to be counted equally, the decision of the majority must be accepted – government accepts what most people want The alternative is “oligarchy” (rule by the few)

20 Do we have majority rule in Canada? http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/results.h tml http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/results.h tml – Seat Counts: PC 166; NDP 103; Libs 34; Greens 1 PC 166 seats vs. all other parties 138 seats = majority government – But, voter turnout was 61.1% of all potential voters So, PCs were elected by 36.6% of those who voted, which is 22.4% of the total electorate (including those who voted and those who didn’t vote)

21 What about Mexico? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_gener al_election,_2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_gener al_election,_2012 CandidatePartyVotes% Enrique Peña NietoInstitutional Revolutionary Party18,727,39839.10 Andrés Manuel López ObradorParty of the Democratic Revolution15,535,11732.43 Josefina Vázquez MotaNational Action Party12,473,10626.04 Gabriel Quadri de la TorreNew Alliance Party1,129,1082.36 Non-registered candidates31,6600.07 Invalid/blank votes1,191,057– Total49,087,446100 Registered voters/turnout77,738,49463.1 Source: PREP (98.95% of polling stations reporting)PREP CandidatePartyVotes% Enrique Peña NietoInstitutional Revolutionary Party18,727,39839.10 Andrés Manuel López ObradorParty of the Democratic Revolution15,535,11732.43 Josefina Vázquez MotaNational Action Party12,473,10626.04 Gabriel Quadri de la TorreNew Alliance Party1,129,1082.36 Non-registered candidates31,6600.07 Invalid/blank votes1,191,057– Total49,087,446100 Registered voters/turnout77,738,49463.1 Source: PREP (98.95% of polling stations reporting)PREP

22 Political Liberty (rights and freedoms) Freedoms that protect the individual, set limits on government or fellow citizens, essential to exercise of popular sovereignty – ‘negative freedoms’ (freedom from) speech, association, religion, press, fair trial, right to bear arms, sexual orientation… unrestricted by government – ‘positive freedoms’ (freedom to) education, health care… provided by government

23 Minority Rights Designed to ensure that a specific individual or group (which may be vulnerable, disadvantaged) is able to achieve equality Includes both: 1) individual rights (as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities) and, 2) collective rights accorded to minority groups

24 Political Competition If people are to be sovereign, they must be able to choose their political representatives – there must be more than one choice! Elections are key to political competition, must be fair – affects legitimacy of political system – e.g., Canada vs. Singapore

25 2000 U.S. Presidential Election

26 Was it the Butterfly Ballot?

27 Canada’s 2011 Federal Election saw some “irregularities” http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavote s2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-polling- pranks-411.html# http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavote s2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-polling- pranks-411.html#

28 Rule of Law Idea that government authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws – intended as a safeguard against arbitrary governance “rule of law” vs. “rule by law”

29 Democratic Ideals – political equality – majority rule – popular sovereignty – political liberty (rights and freedoms) – minority rights – political competition – rule of law → some of these ideals are in tension with each other, or with other important values → thus, requires delicate balancing act!


Download ppt "Reminder: You should all be using/checking your Laurier account – this is the one we will use to contact you."

Similar presentations


Ads by Google