August 4, 2010

In Google’s spat with China, the legacy of colonialism still echoes

Illustration by Matt Daley. When Google, citing concerns over security and censorship, pulled their operations out of China in March this year, they were widely praised for taking a stand for democracy. But Google’s move wasn’t the first time a Western entity had taken the moral high road in regard to China. In fact, almost 200 years ago, the British government also stood up for its beliefs. After... [More >>]

March 2, 2010

How to bring democracy back to Alberta

There’s voter apathy and then there’s Alberta. In the 2008 provincial election, a mere 41 percent of eligible voters came out. The provincial Conservative government went on to claim a historic 11th straight victory, a win that Athabasca University history professor Alvin Finkel believes was the result of Albertans not believing that there’s a viable alternative to the Tories. So this past June,... [More >>]

June 29, 2009

Twitter and the future of democracy

Sure, the web is rife with nonsense. But real political dialogue thrives too In my more idealistic moments, I always imagine I’ll stumble upon raging intellectual debate on the subway. But based on the conversations I’ve overheard lately, here’s what I can tell you about the public mood in Canada: saving GM is both the best and worst thing we’ve ever done; Lady Gaga “sucks”; and, at least... [More >>]

May 1, 2009

Baffled at the Ballot Box

In 1864, Thomas Hare argued at the Association Internationale pour le Progrès des Sciences Sociales meeting in Amsterdam that proportional representation — in which parliamentary seats are awarded based on political parties’ share of the popular vote — was a much fairer system than the “single member plurality” system being used in his home country of England. Within 60 years,... [More >>]