SubscribeVote, vote, vote for Me!
March 13th, 2009 by justine abigail
I spent much of yesterday at Sid Smith trying (and I really want to emphasize that word, trying) to study for a mid-term. Unfortunately, the forces of nature were working against me not only because my mind seemed to wander off endlessly, but also because of all the commotion that was going on around me. Apparently, it’s election season at U of T. All day I was bombarded with pamphlets and strangers encouraging me to vote. Vote for Change! Demand Access! Rah, rah, rah! I couldn’t help but be swept up by all the excitement so off to the poll I went to cast my ever so valuable vote.
And staring into those little colourful pieces of paper with various names of people that I couldn’t even attach a face to…I couldn’t help but wonder (yes, my inner Carrie Bradshaw is coming out!), is this really the democratic process that we all so ardently and passionately advocate (okay…maybe not so juicy as Sex and the City…)? There I was standing at a booth deciding who I should vote for for this position and that position and I didn’t even have a single clue who some of those people were. Let me tell you the various considerations that went into my decision-making process:
a) who had the better pamphlet/poster?
b) do i know him/her?
c) have I at least seen them around campus?
d) innie, minnie, mynie, moe…
Pretty intense decisions, I have to tell you!
No, but seriously. Isn’t there something seriously wrong with this? Even voting for candidates for the Governing Council felt like a sham. Here I am at home, staring at these “people’s” candidacy statements and all of it seems so illusory. I know none of these people whatsoever and I’m supposed to vote for them based on a puny one paragraph statement? How can this be?
How can we bring about change to U of T, if students like me (and believe me, there are many!) just can’t seem to make proper and informed decisions, let alone actually get out there and vote? Who is to blame here? More importantly, what can be done?
Image from here.
March 14th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Yeah, you’ve hit the nail on the head – nominal democracy is over-rated because it has come to put too much emphasis on elections and voting. Even the fact that students have a “voice” on Governing Council doesn’t mean that students’ concerns will be heard, or that students can actually influence governance processes at the university. Naylor wants to Americanize U of T? Students have little ability to change his mind.
Now write this situation large, and you have the provincial and federal systems, when a man who is elected with the votes of less than a quarter of the population can claim a mandate for reactionary changes, and disclaim any responsibility to actually listen to the three-quarters of the population who didn’t want him.
Bring back the Ancient Greek system (in the Cleisthenes era, circa 4th c. B.C.)
March 18th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
[...] solicitors, music, and why yes, even scandal! At around the same time last year, I wrote a blog post that described my pretty shameful lack of knowledge about the election, campaign slates, and the [...]