Democracy on Trial

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The Story of Democracy: The Struggle of the Many to Escape the Domination by the Few

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Demos + Kratia

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The Golden Age

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The Principle of Equality Embedded in the Political Institutions Isonomia Isegoria Isocratia Isogonia Isopoliteia Political Rights Speech Political Power Birthright Legal Rights

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The Fall of Athens

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Life Was Nasty, Brutish, and Short Divine Rule Rule by Military Force

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The Renaissance

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Gutenberg’s Galaxy

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Popular Revolution

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Democracy Reborn

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The Order of Equality v. the Order of Privilege

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The Eternal Tug of War Over the Rules of the Game

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The Great War of Ideologies

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The Triumph of Democracy

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Les Trente Gloriouses (1945-1975)

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Democracy Takes Hold

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Warning!

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“The 20 th Century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as means of protecting corporate power against democracy.” Alex Carey

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The Empire Strikes Back

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To Re-Establish the Predominance of Privilege

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Create the Uneven Playing Field

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Promote the Idea that We Are One Economy

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Seek Technological Leverage

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Limit the Impact of Sovereign Nation States

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Make Use of the Courts

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Take Advantage of Corporate Personhood Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad

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Push As Far As You Can Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

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Voila the Preferred Social Order Corporate Plutocracy

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Institutional Disorder is all about Democracy

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“What the term means is that the people hold power and exercise rule. This was what the term meant in Athens, where the claim bore some relation to the truth. That is what it means today, when it appears to be a thumping falsehood: a bare-faced lie.” John Dunn

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“When every vote counts and counts equally, politics is much more a reflection of the priorities of the population.” Henry Milner

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Social Justice

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Environmental Protection

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To Fight Back Make Each and Every Vote Count

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The Plaintiffs

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The Network

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The Motion Filed With the Court Seeks a declaratory judgment to have the articles in the Quebec Electoral Law that bring forward the first-past-the-post voting system declared null and void because this system infringes upon the plaintiffs' right to vote as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms .

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Section 3 Arguments The content of the Charter right to vote is to be determined in a broad and purposive way, having regard to historical and social context. ...The Court, most importantly, must be guided by the ideal of a "free and democratic society" upon which the Charter is founded. ( Sask. Reference)

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Section 3 Arguments The purpose of the right to vote enshrined in s. 3 of the Charter is not equality of voting power per se , but the right to “effective representation”.  Ours is a representative democracy. Each citizen is entitled to be represented in government. Representation comprehends the idea of having a voice in the deliberations of government as well as the idea of the right to bring one’s grievances and concerns to the attention of one’s government representative. ( Sask. Reference )

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Section 3 Arguments The purpose of s. 3 of the Charter is, then, to grant every citizen of this country the right to play a meaningful role in the selection of elected representatives . ( Figueroa )

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Point of Contention First-Past-The-Post violates the right to vote. Effective representation is systemically denied to those electors who vote for political parties whose support is dispersed geographically. Case in point: the Green Party of Canada. The right to play a meaningful role in the selection of elected representatives is compromised because institutional incentives favour large parties at the expense of smaller ones.

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Section 15 Argument 15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination.

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Point of Contention First-Past-The-Post violates the right to equal treatment by the law. Given voting patterns within non-Francophone ridings in Quebec, the voting system puts into place significant institutional incentives for non-Francophones not to vote.

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In a Nutshell First-Past-The-Post cannot meet the equality requirements of the right to vote because it lacks a mechanism to aggregate votes or voting preferences. To discard votes or to encourage people not to vote for their authentic choice or not to vote at all is contrary to the values of a free and democratic society.

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Quebec Attorney General’s Response The plaintiffs’ right to vote has not been violated. They are represented by their Deputies. They participate in elections by voting and by being candidates. Anglophones elect members of their community to the National Assembly. The plaintiffs are asking the Court to impose a voting system upon the legislature.

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March 2004 Declaratory Judgment Motion is filed Sept. 2006 Trial for Admissibility Nov. 2006 Favourable Decision Jan. 2007 Crown’s Appeal Denied Dec. 2008 Motion goes to trial Feb. 2009 Unfavorable Decision Feb 2011 Appeal is heard Chronology of Events

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Elements That Play in Our Favour History of Voting Reform in Quebec Electoral Promise to Change the Voting System Draft Legislation Tabled Public Consultations Held Unable to Draw Up a New Electoral Map Powers of the Director of Elections Suspended Referendum in the UK on the Voting System Unpopular Government Plagued by Scandals

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Once Every Century the Planets Are Perfectly Aligned

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