Reminder: You should all be using/checking your Laurier account – this is the one we will use to contact you.

Tutorial#1 will take place during the Weeks of January 21 st and 28 th Make sure you know which tutorial you are registered in – tutorial dates/times/locations are listed in “Tutorials” folder of MLS tutorials meet every two weeks (not every week) Tutorial readings and tasks posted on course MLS – under “Tutorial#1” folder – make sure that you do the readings and prepare before your Tutorial

Section A Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (see below)Weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (see below) #Day / Time / Room# W / 9:30-10:20 / P2027 W / 10:30-11:20 / P2027 W / 11:30-12:20 / P2027 W / 12:30-13:20 / P2027 W / 13:30-14:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB W / 9:30-10:20 / P2027 W / 10:30-11:20 / P2027 W / 11:30-12:20 / P2027 W / 12:30-13:20 / P2027 W / 13:30-14:20 / P2027 Section B Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (see below)Weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (see below) #Day / Time / Room# W / 14:30-15:20 / P2027 W / 15:30-16:20 / P2027 W / 16:30-17:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB W / 18:30-19:20 / P W / 14:30-15:20 / P2027 W / 15:30-16:20 / P2027 W / 16:30-17:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / P2027 W / 17:30-18:20 / DAWB Wee k DateWee k Date 3Jan Jan.28-Feb.1 5Feb.4-86Feb Feb.25-March 18March 4-8 9March March March April 1-5

Tutorial Participation Tutorial participation is worth 10% of final grade – grade out of 10 will be awarded for each Tutorial, five grades out of 10 to be averaged at end of term – if you miss a Tutorial, grade of “0” is awarded and factored into average – you will receive 4/10 for attending – the other 6 marks will be allocated on the basis of your participation! – no Tutorial make-ups

Core Concepts in Political Science – Review from Last Day Politics – originates in conflict over scarce resources and/or differing values, between groups in society who want different things – is the activity of resolving this conflict – always involves the exercise of power = the ability of one actor (or group) to impose his/her will on others coercion, authority, influence

Core Concepts - cont’d power influences the resolution of conflict, i.e., some individuals/groups win out over others Government – is the conflict manager, makes and enforces collective decisions

Point of clarification: What is the difference between ‘the State’ and ‘Government’?

“The State” is all of these things The law An institution/set of institutions A sovereign entity An internally recognized entity A group of people An idea

Government Is specialized activity of those individuals and institutions that make and enforce collective decisions in a state Is both a set of activities (occurring over time), and also a collection of institutions that carry out these activities

So then what is ‘Democratic Government?’

How Democratic are We? Democracy = (Gr: demos, kratein) January 15, 2013

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Freedom House “Map of Democracy” Each country is rated on a seven-category scale, 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free – = Free; Party Free; Free Two foci: – political rights: enable people to participate freely in the political process, including the right to vote, compete for public office, join political parties representatives are accountable to the electorate – civil liberties: allow for the freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, personal autonomy and individual rights

t/fiw1.php ge=22&year=2006&country=7084

Democracy is... 1) A set of ideals about how government should work, what the role of citizen is in the political system AND 2) A set of procedures and institutions guiding operation of government, participation of citizens

Democratic Ideals Can you name any?

Popular Sovereignty Sovereignty = supreme authority in a political community Popular = people are source of all political power, have right to overrule other bodies – can “throw the rascals out” – your text: “power in some way rests with the people” (p.61)”

Political Equality Idea that each individual citizen (regardless of gender, race, etc.) carries the same weight in voting and other political decision-making – measured by extent to which citizens have equal voice in governing Why important? Political activity is means by which we inform our governors of our interests, make them responsive to us

Majority Rule Idea that, if each vote is to be counted equally, the decision of the majority must be accepted – government accepts what most people want The alternative is “oligarchy” (rule by the few)

Do we have majority rule in Canada? tml tml – Seat Counts: PC 166; NDP 103; Libs 34; Greens 1 PC 166 seats vs. all other parties 138 seats = majority government – But, voter turnout was 61.1% of all potential voters So, PCs were elected by 36.6% of those who voted, which is 22.4% of the total electorate (including those who voted and those who didn’t vote)

What about Mexico? al_election,_ al_election,_2012 CandidatePartyVotes% Enrique Peña NietoInstitutional Revolutionary Party18,727, Andrés Manuel López ObradorParty of the Democratic Revolution15,535, Josefina Vázquez MotaNational Action Party12,473, Gabriel Quadri de la TorreNew Alliance Party1,129, Non-registered candidates31, Invalid/blank votes1,191,057– Total49,087, Registered voters/turnout77,738, Source: PREP (98.95% of polling stations reporting)PREP CandidatePartyVotes% Enrique Peña NietoInstitutional Revolutionary Party18,727, Andrés Manuel López ObradorParty of the Democratic Revolution15,535, Josefina Vázquez MotaNational Action Party12,473, Gabriel Quadri de la TorreNew Alliance Party1,129, Non-registered candidates31, Invalid/blank votes1,191,057– Total49,087, Registered voters/turnout77,738, Source: PREP (98.95% of polling stations reporting)PREP

Political Liberty (rights and freedoms) Freedoms that protect the individual, set limits on government or fellow citizens, essential to exercise of popular sovereignty – ‘negative freedoms’ (freedom from) speech, association, religion, press, fair trial, right to bear arms, sexual orientation… unrestricted by government – ‘positive freedoms’ (freedom to) education, health care… provided by government

Minority Rights Designed to ensure that a specific individual or group (which may be vulnerable, disadvantaged) is able to achieve equality Includes both: 1) individual rights (as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities) and, 2) collective rights accorded to minority groups

Political Competition If people are to be sovereign, they must be able to choose their political representatives – there must be more than one choice! Elections are key to political competition, must be fair – affects legitimacy of political system – e.g., Canada vs. Singapore

2000 U.S. Presidential Election

Was it the Butterfly Ballot?

Canada’s 2011 Federal Election saw some “irregularities” s2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-polling- pranks-411.html# s2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-polling- pranks-411.html#

Rule of Law Idea that government authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws – intended as a safeguard against arbitrary governance “rule of law” vs. “rule by law”

Democratic Ideals – political equality – majority rule – popular sovereignty – political liberty (rights and freedoms) – minority rights – political competition – rule of law → some of these ideals are in tension with each other, or with other important values → thus, requires delicate balancing act!