Tutorials start next week!

1. Tutorials start next week! Make sure you know where you need to be, and when.

2. From Last Day…Democratic Ideals: political equality majority rule popular sovereignty political liberty (rights and freedoms) minority rights political competition rule of law How can we put these ideals into practice?

3. If, in a democracy, “power in some way resides with the people”, what would this look like? Citizens participate indirectly (voting) Citizens participate directly (deliberation) Democratic Elitism Deliberative Democracy Popular sovereignty, political equality, majority rule, political liberty, minority rights, political competition, rule of law

4. Democratic Elitism • Citizens delegate law-making authority to elected representatives • assumes that direct citizen participation is unrealistic and undesirable • system is democratic because elites must compete for votes of citizens → indirect

5. Deliberative Democracy • Argues that it is not enough for citizens to vote for their representatives • they must have an opportunity to take part in political debate on issues, help to form consensus → direct

6. How to realize Deliberative Democracy?

7. Not only is Democracy a set of ideals…. it is a framework of institutions and procedures for putting these ideals into practice.How do we “design Democracy”???Different countries have takendifferent approaches…

8. Institutional Frameworks I:Constitutions and Rights January 17th

9. http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.htmlhttp://www.usconstitution.net/const.txthttp://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/constmex/pdf/consting.pdfhttp://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.htmlhttp://www.usconstitution.net/const.txthttp://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/constmex/pdf/consting.pdf

10. Constitutions... …are fundamental: they provide body of rules and principles according to which a state is governed • who/what institutions are to carry out major functions of government (e.g., U.S.) … and how to change these • basic rights and obligations of citizens • http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/ch2.html • basic source of national law!

11. Constitutions... • Fulfill democratic requirement of rule of law • Constitutionalism • constitution is most fundamental principle of political life • Vary in their approach • e.g., U.S. vs. Russian Constitutions • Written vs unwritten (‘uncodified’) • e.g., British vs American

12. Britain’s “Unwritten” Constitution

14. Constitutions – cont’d • lay foundation for power relations between: • different parts of state (horizontal power relations) • different levels of gov’t (vertical power relations) • government and citizens

15. A constitution is also fundamental because it lays out framework for power relations in country

17. Relations between different parts of state (horizontal power relations): • Different parts of state analyzed under three functional headings • legislative (law-makers) • executive (law implementers) • judicial (law adjudicators) • three “branches” of government • Some democracies concerned that power should be strictly divided among branches • presidential (“separation of power”) system

18. Relations between different parts of state (horizontal power relations) – cont’d • Other democracies less concerned by concentration of power in one branch • parliamentary (“fusion of power”) system • Judiciary has role in umpiring disputes

19. Relations between levels of gov’t (vertical power relations) Unitary System: central gov’t has power over regional governments e.g., Britain, France Federal System: central and regional governments each have power, cannot overrule each other e.g., Canada, US, Mexico

20. ETA – “Basque Fatherland and Freedom”

21. Relations between state and citizens* British tradition: parliament to safeguard rights of citizens, not courts vs. American tradition: set out rights in Bill of Rights, enforced in courts * political liberty, political equality, minority rights