Department of Political Science – University of POL382H1S Winter 2012

Renewing Canadian Democracy

Michael Ignatieff

Course Description

Is Canadian democracy working? Who is being served and who is being left out? What practical reforms would make our institutions serve our people better? What can we learn from other countries to make Canada a more democratic society?

The course introduces students to theories of how democracy ought to work and then takes a critical look at the way Canadian political institutions actually work: the Prime Minister’s office, Parliament, political parties, the federal system, aboriginal self-government, NGO’s lobbying groups and the media. Students will be encouraged to propose and critically examine specific ideas about how to make our political institutions more just, more transparent, more inclusive and more equitable.

Biography

Michael Ignatieff (Harvard, PhD History, 1976) is the author of The Rights Revolution: The Massey Lectures (Toronto, Stoddart, 2000); Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (Princeton University Press, 2001). The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (Princeton University Press, 2004) and editor of American Exceptionalism and Human Rights (Princeton University Press, 2005). Between 2000 and 2005 he was Professor of Human Rights and Director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Between 2006 and 2011, he was Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Lakeshore, Deputy Leader and Leader of the . For the academic year 2011-2012, he is Senior Resident at Massey College, .

Office: Massey College, Rm V12 Office Hours: Wednesday, 2-4pm E-Mail: [email protected]

FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS

1 two-hour lecture per week. Wednesday 10:10-12pm George Ignatieff Theatre Trinity College

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PREREQUISITE

POL 103Y or POL214Y or POL 224Y

ASSIGNMENTS

Response Memo, 1000 words, due February 15: 25% Class Participation, Blackboard Comments: 15% Final Exam: 60%

Students will be asked to participate by responding on Blackboard discussion threads to questions posed each class. Their online involvement, as well as contributions in class, will be monitored and evaluated in the participation component of the course grade. A short, reflective response memo will be due prior to Reading Week. Topics for this assignment will be made available in mid-January. The final exam will encompass all readings and lecture content, including contributions by guest speakers.

Papers submitted beyond the due date without the prior approval of the instructor may be subject to a penalty of 2% per day (including weekends).

Students are strongly advised to keep rough and draft work and hard copies of their essays before handing them in to the Department. These should be kept until the marked assignments have been returned.

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will be dealt with accordingly. For further clarification and information, please see the University of Toronto’s policy on plagiarism at http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html.

RESPONSE MEMO SUBMISSION

Essay submission will be conducted electronically according to the process below.

To submit your essay:

1. Prepare your essay in .doc or .rft file format.

2. Upload your paper to Turnitin.com.

3. Forward the email confirmation that you receive from Turnitin.com to [email protected] with your essay file as an attachment

4. You will receive a confirmation email indicating that your essay has been received. If you do not, then please contact me

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Please note that papers must be received by 11:59 PM on the due date to avoid late penalties, which are assessed at 2% per day unless you have contacted Paul Thomas ([email protected]) prior to the deadline to arrange an extension

Appeals

Appeals to essay or exam grades must be made by an email containing a one paragraph discussion of why you think the grading was unfair or overlooked some of the material that you presented. Appeals made without such justification will not be considered.

BLACKBOARD

The course uses the management system Blackboard which helps to establish efficient communication between instructor, teaching assist ant and student, as well as to facilitate class participation. To access the Blackboard-based course website, go to the UofT portal login page at http://portal.utoronto.ca and log in using your UTORid and password. If you need information on how to activate your UTORid and set your password for the first time, please go to http://www.utorid.utoronto.ca.

The Help Desk at the Information Commons and telephone assistance under 416-978-HELP can also answer other related questions. Once you have logged in to the portal using your UTORid and password, look for the My Courses module, where you will find the link to this course website along with links to all your other Blackboard-based courses. At times, the instructor or teaching assistant may decide to send out important course information by e- mail. To that end, all UofT students are required to have a valid UofT e-mail address. You are responsible for ensuring that your UofT e-mail address is set up AND properly entered in the ROSI system.

ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility Needs: The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible: [email protected] or http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca/.

READING

All reading assignments—roughly 40 pages per week-- are available on Blackboard. You are not required to purchase any texts.

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Part 1: What is Democracy and Why Does it Matter?

Wednesday, January 11 Introduction/What is a democracy?

Schmitter, Phillip and Karl, Terry Lynn. "What a Democracy Is... and Is Not." Journal of Democracy 2, 3, Summer 1991.

Dunn, John. "Why Democracy?" In Setting the People Free. Atlantic Books, 2005.

Part 2: Canadian Democratic Institutions

Friday, January 20 *PLEASE NOTE DIFFERENT DAY OF WEEK* The Executive

Visit by Hon Bill Graham, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada.

White, Graham. "Cabinets and First Ministers." In Cross, William (ed.). Auditing Canadian Democracy. UBC Press, 2010.

Savoie, Donald. "Primus: There is no longer Inter or Pares." In Governing from the centre : the concentration of power in Canadian politics. University of Toronto Press, 1999.

Wednesday, January 25 Parliament

Visit by Hon. Peter Milliken, former Speaker of the House of Commons, Canada.

Docherty, David. Legislatures. UBC Press, 2005. Excerpt.

Wednesday, February 1 Political Parties

Cross, William. Political Parties. UBC Press, 2005. Excerpt.

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Potter, Andrew. "Imagine Throwing a Dinner Party for 30 Million People." Citizen. September 29, 2011.

Amyot, Grant. "The Waning of Political Parties." In Gagnon and Tanguay (eds.), Canadian Parties in Transition (3rd Ed.). University of Toronto Press, 2007.

Wednesday, February 8 Courts and the Charter

Morton, Ted and Knopff, Rainer. "What's wrong with the Charter Revolution and the Court Party." The Charter Revolution and Court Party. Broadview Press, 1999.

Hogg, Peter and Thornton, Allison, “The Charter Dialogue Between Courts and Legislatures”, in Paul Howe and Peter Russell 9eds.) Judicial Power and Canadian Democracy, (2001),ps. 106- 111.

Wednesday, February 15 Federalism

Simeon, Richard and Cameron, David. “Intergovernmental Relations and Democracy: An Oxymoron if There Ever Was One?” In Bakvis, Herman and Skogstad, Grace. Canadian Federalism: Performance, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy. Oxford University Press, 2002.

Smith, Jennifer. “Federalism”. In Cross, William (ed.). Auditing Canadian Democracy. : UBC Press, 2010.

Wednesday, February 22 READING WEEK

Wednesday, February 29 Aboriginal Self-Governance

Coates, Ken. "The Indian Act and The Future of Aboriginal Governance in Canada." National Centre for First Nations Governance, May 2008.

Papillon, Martin. "The (Re)emergence of Aboriginal Governments." In Bickerton and Gagnon, Canadian Politics, 5th ed. University of Toronto Press, 2009.

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Section 3: Challenges Ahead

Wednesday, March 7 Voter disengagement and the public loss of faith Why are citizens tuning out politics? What can be done?

LeDuc, Lawrence, and Pammett, Jon. "Voter Turnout". In MacIvor, Heather (ed.), Election. Toronto: Edmond Montgomery Publications Ltd., 2010.

Hardin, Russell “Democratic Participation” in How Do You Know? (Princeton,2009), ps. 60-82.

Wednesday, March 14 Democratic participation in an unequal Age Is equal political participation possible amidst economic inequality? Is our democracy serving the common good?

Visit by Armine Yalnizyan, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ottawa

Yalnizyan, Armine. "Income Inequality is a Problem for Everyone." , September 20 2011. (http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/09/20/armine-yalnizyan-income-inequality-is- a-problem-for-everyone/)

Wilkinson, Richard and Pickett, Kate. "Community Life and Social Relations." In The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.

Wednesday, March 21 Media and Public Knowledge What do voters need to know? Is the media serving democracy? What is new media doing to public debate?

Visit by Michael Valpy, Globe and Mail.

Sunstein, Cass “The Daily We: Is the Internet Really a Blessing for Democracy?”: http://bostonreview.net/BR26.3/sunstein.php

Wednesday, March 28 Economic Sovereignty and Governmental Responsibility Does globalization make the sovereign democratic polity unsustainable? Can transnational governance be democratized?

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Rodrick, Dani. "The Political Trilemma of the World Economy." In The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. W.W. Norton & Co., 2011.

Clarkson, Stephen and Wood, Stepan. "Rethinking Canadian Governance and Law in a Globalized World." In A Perilous Imbalance: The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance. UBC Press, 2010.

Wednesday, April 4 The Politics of Reform Who does the reforming? And how? Do political institutions allow for the possibility of meaningful reform?

Concluding Lecture. No reading.

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