Do We Live in a Democratic Country?

Several news items last week should be bothering us:

1. A pollster suggested after analyzing his surveys on the May 2 election that the result would have been very different if the participation rate was similar in different age groups and that the Conservative party won the majority because they catered to the older group that votes at twice the rate of younger group who were more inclined to support the Liberals.

2. The Conservative party organizers gloated that they focused on winning the support of minority communities in seats where they were the crucial swing votes.

3. Disregarding the fact that 60% of actual voters did vote for the opposition parties the ruling party crows that the majority of Canadians support their policies while proposing legislative changes which most Canadians find unpleasant.

4. The sole ‘elected’ member of the senate said that it was the duty of senators to support their leader, thus implying that the chamber of sober thought was in reality to become a rubber stamp.

In addition there is the issue of candidates promoting reduced taxes, lower regulation of businesses, reduced social services, cuts in infrastructure spending and higher defense budget as policies in the interest of all voters with full knowledge that their agenda only helps their few wealthy supporters at the expense of vast population and the future generations. The success of such campaigns in recent elections in the U.S. is the main cause of economic plight of that country and the tendency of our government to copy this trend is a major worry for many Canadians.

These considerations raise the question: Has the democracy been subverted by the politicians to the point that it is no longer the representation of the will of the majority but the representation of the interests of wealthy individuals and professional politicians who have the means to manipulate the election process to their advantage. Making false promises during the elections is a practice as old as the elections but new strategies are now coming to the fore. Changing policy pronouncements during the campaign based on the polls, heavily concentrated often false negative projection of other leaders in media advertising, raising funds for election campaigns in return for government contracts and enactment of favourable policies, making it convenient for supporters and inconvenient for likely opponents to vote and other shenanigans have been taken to new heights by the well heeled right wing candidates in the U.S. in the past few elections and in Canada in the last two elections with great success. It is true that one does whatever he/she can to win and on the face of it there is nothing wrong with it. But it is fair to question the validity of claims that a government elected after such tricks in the elections is a true representation of the wishes of the population.

If we wish our system of government to be democracy in fact, not just in name, and the government of the day to truly reflect the wishes of citizens we need to take the election process away from professional politicians whose only aim is to gain power and stuff their ideologies down the throats of indifferent, if not unwilling, citizens. To begin with, we need a fixed date for elections. We need strict limit on spending by the parties and their supporters and a stringent code of ethics in advertising. Every voter must vote even if he decides to vote ‘no opinion’. And finally, we need proportional representation, not first past the post system we have now which allows a party with minority support to assume dictatorial powers. We may have some justification to topple foreign dictators only when we have a true democracy in our country. Till then our participation in the civil war in Libya and elsewhere to promote democaratic governments there is hypocrisy at its worst.