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CHAPTER 10
Political Challenges to Liberalism
To what extent should governments reflect the ‘will
of the people’?
DOES GOVERNMENT SERVE THE PEOPLE OR
LEAD THE PEOPLE?
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Authoritarian Political Systems...
Authoritarian political systems, that is those that
are not based on democratic principles, take
many forms including:
oligarchies (Putin’s Russian Federation),
 military dictatorships (Myanmar, formerly-known as
Burma),
 ideological one-party states (Cuba) and
 monarchies (Saudi Arabia)

PRINCIPLES OF LIBERALISM IN DIRECT
DEMOCRACIES
A direct democracy operates on the belief that all
citizens have a voice that is important and
necessary for the orderly and efficient operation
of society
 Three important instruments used in direct
democracies are initiatives, referendums or
plebiscites, and recalls. In a direct democracy,
citizens can use initiatives to create and pass
legislation. In referendums or plebiscites, all
citizens vote on whether to accept or reject a
proposed piece of legislation

In a direct democracy, every citizen is an
autonomous entity who freely pursues their own
governing interests to maximize personal benefit.
This in turn leads to indirect benefit for all.
Critics of direct democracy argue that it does not
account for those people who are not interested in
governing or who fail to fulfill their duty to be an
informed governing element. Switzerland is an
example of a country that uses techniques of
direct democracy
 Investigation
Mandatory Voting (Page 348)

LIBERALISM THROUGH REPRESENTATIVE
DEMOCRACY

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In this system, citizens select governing officials
to make decisions on their behalf. In this
situation, citizens make this choice for several
key reasons as they pertain to liberalism
Firstly, the electorate may not be interested in engaging in democratic activity on a
daily basis. Instead, they defer this power to elected representatives who act on their
behalf. In this manner, a small group is able to become highly specialized, while
pursuing an area of obvious interest and aptitude, which frees the majority of
citizens to focus their energies on other aspects of society. Representative
democracies ensure that those elected maintain liberal ideals through periodic
elections, the presence of multiple parties, the separation of powers between
different branches of government, an independent media, and other traditions such
as rule of law.

There are many variations of representative
democracies.
Canada, for example, has a constitutional monarchy.
 The United States follows a republican system of
government.
 In Sweden, the government uses a different form of
representation—proportional representation.

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Proportional representation works by having citizens
vote directly for a party, and then representatives are
assigned based upon the amount of popular support
obtained.

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The system encourages participation by
minorities or other fringe groups who would not
obtain representation as easily in the first two
systems.
It also frequently results in minority and/or
coalition governments that must work to achieve
consensus for fear of being overturned.
CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING

In consensus decision-making a group of
individuals share ideas, solutions, and concerns
in order to find a resolution to a problem that all
members of the group can accept. They have very
similar ways of handling situations...

1. the question for consideration is presented to the group

2. all members of the group contribute their opinion on the question

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3. a response to the question is proposed, and the members of the group come to
some agreement on the response;
4. if all of the members do not agree to the response, those who disagree present
their concerns to the group
5. the proposed response to the question is modified to address the concerns of those
who disagree
6. another round of discussion is held on the newly modified response; the process
repeats until a resolution is reached that all members can accept
Proponents of consensus decision-making argue that it is egalitarian and
inclusive, allowing everyone to participate in a decision

The Government of Nunavut calls itself a
consensus government. The absence of a party
structure allows each MLA to vote as he or she
wishes. Approval of any matter before the House
requires agreement by the majority, thus it is
called a consensus government.

The Netherlands’ political system is based on
consensus decision-making
POPULISM

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Other thinkers believe that the solution to
perceived problems in representative democracies
is to incorporate some of the populist instruments
of direct democracies, such as referendums,
initiatives, and recalls.
Populism is a political appeal to the interests of
ordinary citizens
LETTING THE PUBLIC DECIDE:

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How much faith can a government place in ordinary
citizens to make decisions that best represent their
own interests, or at least the interests of the majority
of citizens?
Some thinkers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and
John Stuart Mill, have argued that democratic
participation is beneficial both to citizens and the
state
Rousseau and Mill both felt that many people
participating in the decision-making process would
inevitably improve the character of individual citizens
CASE STUDY: THE CHARLOTTETOWN
ACCORD... AUGUST 28, 1992
The Accord proposed changes to the Canadian
constitution that various interest groups in
Canada had sought for many years, and previous
attempts at reform had failed to accomplish: it
recognized Québec as a ‘distinct society’, it
recognized Aboriginals’ right to self-government,
and it would reform the Senate so that it was
“elected, equal and effective”.
 However, in a national referendum on October
26, 1992, voters in only four provinces approved
the accord, and the deal was abandoned

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A thought: “Maybe politicians should have gone ahead and voted
regardless of the will of the people. Maybe this is where the government
should have led. When it’s a case of minority rights, you don’t leave it up
to a vote of the majority.”
CASE STUDY: THE GST AND THE ‘WILL OF
THE PEOPLE’
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In 1990, under Conservative Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney, a 7% Goods and Services Tax
(GST) was imposed on Canadian consumers
Following protests of this proposed tax and opposition by the Liberal majority
Senate, Prime Minister Mulroney invoked Section 26 of the 1867 Constitution Act,
requesting special permission from the Queen in order to appoint 8 new Conservative
senators raising the number of Conservative senators from 46 to 54 thus creating a
Conservative majority in the Senate (there were 52 Liberal senators at the time) and
allowing Prime Minister Mulroney to introduce the GST
 Should
the government have listened to
the ‘will of the people’ on this contentious
issue that affected every Canadian?

After 160 years, the province of Alberta has passed a law permitting children as
young as 12 to work. Governments change laws sometimes to be beneficial to
“business interests”, in this case the lack of workers in Alberta’s food and service
industry. Do you think that the government is following the ‘will of the people’ in this
example?
Are you looking forward to being able to vote? Or
perhaps you are voting already... Do you believe
that every vote counts…including your own?
 Anthony Downs, an economic theorist, has
argued that, because a single vote has little
weight in a very large group of decision-makers,
individuals have little or no sense of
responsibility for their decision, and are thus less
likely to make a rational and well-informed
decision

HOW SHOULD GOVERNMENT FORM
POLICY?
Some factors governments may consider are:
 • Do most people fully understand the issue and
the implications of the various policy choices? Is a
lack of understanding causing them to favour the
“opposite” course of action?
 • What is the most feasible choice of policy? Is
the people’s will an unrealistic course of action?
 • Is the will of the majority an unethical
position? Does it violate the rights of a minority?
Can the government, in good conscience, carry
out the population’s wishes?

Ethics and Protecting Minorities from the
Tyranny of the Majority...
 Does the ‘will of the people’ necessarily indicate
the right course of action? Is public opinion
always consistent with the values and principles
of a liberal democracy?
 One potential problem that arises in democracy
is ‘Tyranny of the Majority’
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In 2005, when the government of Canada introduced legislation into the House of
Parliament to recognize same-sex marriages, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler
announced that there would not be a national referendum on the issue. Cotler stated
that if a referendum had been held to decide whether women were entitled to vote in
the early 20th century in Canada, women would likely never have been enfranchised
ASSIGNMENT... DUE MONDAY....

Read pages 357-365 briefly outline
characteristics and then decided on advantages
and disadvantages with the type of system.
a) direct democracy
 b) representative democracy
 c) oligarchy
 d) military dictatorship
 e) ideological one-party state
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Be prepared to discuss.