Canadian Government - Essay Example

Canada is a democratic country, practicing what is known as the liberal form of democracy (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 8). This paper purports to discuss and analyze the different types of democratic governments in relation to the Canadian political system, highlighting some of the pros and cons of the practiced form. As already mentioned, the Canadian government is liberal in nature. Liberal democracy essentially imparts greater freedom to the public than is offered by the simple definition of democracy which merely empowers the general public to choose their political representatives through voting and elections (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 8).

Liberal democracy ensures greater empowerment through three stipulations: the government works within a legally defined parameter and is checked by rules and laws, written in the form of a constitution; the public has freedom to gather and express political views through a free media and open access to information; and the political representatives compete in a fair election where the public is free to choose amongst them through open voting (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 8). A democratic government, be it liberal or otherwise, can be of one of two basic forms: direct and representative or indirect.

The direct form of democratic government is essentially what was practiced in the Greek politics, where the general public is literally given the power to choose and plan every law and policy that the government proposes and wishes to implement (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). These policies and laws are voted upon by the public, so that the voting system is not restricted merely to the election of the representatives (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). However, this system is not appropriate and practical for the modern day complex societies (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7).

Therefore, an indirect method of democracy is practiced whereby the public chooses their representatives who then make the appropriate laws and policies without public intervention (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). The government, in this case, is authorized to implement policies even by force, that is, through the use of the police and military, and other government agencies (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). The public chooses the representatives that it considers to best serve their interests (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7).

The parties prepare an agenda beforehand on the basis of which they fight the elections. This agenda is often the only way of predicting the party’s course of action once it is in authority (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). In turn, the government, at least that of Canada, is expected to be responsible, that is, it is answerable to the public, and has duties in the social and economic fields that it needs to fulfill to make the state a welfare state (Mintz, Tossutti, and Dunn 7). The representative form of democracy is