Why You Don't Vote — Clio's Current. A report by Samara Canada garnered a lot of attention recently as pundits reacted to what has been the elephant in the room for a decade.
Another report echoed Samara's conclusions. To no one's surprise, Canadians care less and less about politics. Less of us vote, less of us volunteer for campaigns, and less of us even talk about politics among ourselves. As a young Canadian, political disengagement among my generation has been a constant part of my life. Samara made sure to define political engagement as more than simply posting about it on Facebook or reading political news – it required active involvement in the political community. It wasn't always like this, was it? Democracy came to Canada slowly, albeit peacefully. Reformers called for, and received, “responsible government” in Canada that answered to the people, not a British monarch.
What happened? It is difficult to pinpoint the weakening pulse of social engagement with democratic government in North America. National Newswatch#.UpbQT0CA3IX#.UpbQT0CA3IX. OTTAWA - A spate of spectacularly inaccurate polls in several provincial elections and Monday's federal byelections has one of Canada's leading pollsters worried that the day is fast approaching when public opinion surveys will be banned during campaigns.
John Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, said in his view shoddy polling methods by some companies and the media's undiscerning appetite for horse race numbers — no matter how dubious — are dragging the industry's reputation through the mud. He wants the market research industry to crack down on pollsters who don't meet minimum standards. And he wants media outlets to be far more selective about the polls they publish, rejecting surveys from companies that refuse to fully disclose all their weighted and unweighted data. If that doesn't happen soon, he predicted there'll be a move to ban the publication of polls during campaigns. Forum denies anyone was called more than once for the same survey. Third-party advertising rules must change in Ontario politics.
TORONTO - Is it the Working Families Coalition?
Or would a better name be the Working for Public Sector Pay and Perks Coalition? Whatever they call themselves, the powerful union-backed WFC has targeted every Tory leader from Ernie Eves to John Tory to Tim Hudak with slick attack ads aimed at branding them as variously sleazy or in the pockets of big business. Before the provincial Tories plunge themselves into a useless leadership feeding frenzy, they should direct their anger at the biggest cause of their inability to make a breakthrough. It’s not Hudak. It’s the WFC that was originally responsible for defining him as not a likeable person. The PC Party made a formal complaint to Elections Ontario after the 2007 election where WFC targeted then leader John Tory. That’s not really surpising. It’s not subject to spending limits. Third parties are not required to register with Elections Ontario if they advertise outside the writ period. Dillon replies, “Yes.” Whatever happened to democracy?
Rigging Elections. Opinion: Stamping out big money in politics - Matthew MacWilliams and Edward Erikson. “It’s a petition on steroids.”
That’s the way Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, describes the Stamp Stampede — his guerrilla marketing campaign that uses money to get money out of politics. Literally. Almost three years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which opened the door to super PACs and unlimited corporate election spending on elections, advocacy groups like Public Campaign, Public Citizen and People for the American Way helped pass ballot referendums in two states and resolutions through nine state legislatures, calling for a constitutional amendment to nullify Citizens United.
More than 400 municipalities have joined these states and about 150 members of Congress support at least one amendment proposal. Continue Reading But as Steven Spielberg’s movie about Abraham Lincoln reminds us, it’s not easy to amend the Constitution. Beauty at the Ballot Box. Disease Threats Predict Preferences for Physically Attractive Leaders Andrew Edward White, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S.
McAllister Dr., Tempe, AZ 85287 E-mail: aewhite7@asu.edu Author Contributions All authors developed the study concept and contributed to the study design. Testing, data collection, and data analysis were performed by A. E. White. Abstract Why does beauty win out at the ballot box? Article Notes Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.