POL101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Participatory Budgeting, Representative Democracy, Proportional Representation
Voting lodges sovereignty "in the people"
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Legitimates government, leaders, and legislations
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Obligates citizens to abide by government laws and policies
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Right to vote generates responsibility to abide by laws that citizen has had a hand in choosing --> voting for people
makes you subject to the laws they enact, you 'buy' into the system
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Features of modern democratic systems, representative democracies
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Eagle in U.S., freedom
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Beaver
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Symbolic representation
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Like a lawyer acting on your behalf
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Translates the way people think about political representation --> represents your interests in
government
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An agent acting on your behalf
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Aboriginal can't be represented by someone who doesn't share their history
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Minority representation: distinct from agent acting on behalf
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Shared characteristics
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Small town votes for building of bridge
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Participatory budgeting
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Examples of referendums
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Direct democracy is unworkable because units governed by democracy to accommodate direct democracy
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Only white male property owners were allowed to vote
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Excluding along lines of gender, race, and class
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Expanding the Franchise
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All include the possibility that anyone can win the election, but given the way interests are organized, each
electoral system imposed on a particular country is going to make it more or less likely to have certain
outcomes
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Representation
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Majority (50% + 1)
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Plurality: more than any other party or candidate --> not necessarily a majority, just more than
everyone else
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First past the post
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Division into ridings in Canada
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Used to be 308 ridings in Canada, after 2014: 338,
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Population growth, distribution, people change, move out of rural areas into urban areas
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Each member of parliament represents the same number of people --> equal representation of
people
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Each MP represents between 63k - 120k citizens.
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Discrepancy between the votes the party gets and the seats they get
Over-represents the winning party
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Pros and cons of system
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Majoritarian Systems
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Types of Electoral Systems
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Lecture 1.7: Electoral Systems and
Representation
October 31, 2016
12:16 PM
LECTURES Page 14
Document Summary
Obligates citizens to abide by government laws and policies. Right to vote generates responsibility to abide by laws that citizen has had a hand in choosing --> voting for people makes you subject to the laws they enact, you "buy" into the system. Translates the way people think about political representation --> represents your interests in government. Aboriginal can"t be represented by someone who doesn"t share their history. Minority representation: distinct from agent acting on behalf. Direct democracy is unworkable because units governed by democracy to accommodate direct democracy. Only white male property owners were allowed to vote. Excluding along lines of gender, race, and class. All include the possibility that anyone can win the election, but given the way interests are organized, each electoral system imposed on a particular country is going to make it more or less likely to have certain outcomes.
