Department of Political Science – University of Toronto 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 Liberal Party of Canada. For the academic year 2011-2012, he is Senior Resident at Massey College, University of Toronto. Office: Massey College, Rm V12 Office Hours: Wednesday, 2-4pm E-Mail:
[email protected] FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS 1 two-hour lecture per week.