In taking a closer look, one can examine the facets of public and private life that contribute to such a strong democratic society. Three components that make up a civic culture are (a) civic engagement, (b) political equality, and (c) solidarity.
Civic engagement can be narrowly interpreted as “the degree of citizens’ active participation in public affairs;” that is, how involved they are on a political level. However, a more encompassing definition of civic engagement recognizes the density and quality of all kinds of voluntary associations, even if said associations have nothing to do with politics. By this definition, one can recognize organizations such as churches, sports leagues, labor unions, charities, parent teacher associations, etc. as associations that strengthen a community (Samuels, 123.)
By this second definition, Canada ranks highly in multiple examples of civic engagement. (As a point of reference, it is compared to the United States, its southern neighbor, and to Russia, which is dissimilar in government but similar in size and climate.) When analyzed against these two countries, Canada demonstrates the most civic engagement in every category except Religious Organizations, where it falls ten points behind the US (Online Data Analysis.)
Political equality refers to the status of citizens in relation to each other; that a government should offer “both equal rights and obligations... Citizens believe that no one is outside the law” (Samuels, 123.) In this sense, Canada is certainly a society of egalitarian ideals. While known for its laissez-fare governmental approach, allowing provinces to run strong local governments, Canada has used a public health care system since the 1984 Canada Health Act. Funded by the federal government, services cost citizens little to nothing and are administered at the provincial level, largely through private entities (Health Care in Canada.)
As a culture, a majority of Canadians profess to believe in the importance of democracy and hold others accountable to the standards that accompany such a philosophy. Nearly ten percent of Canadians polled by the World Values Survey believe their country to be “completely democratic,” compared to only seven percent of Americans and just over one percent of Russians. Similarly, Canadian citizens showed the lowest level of tolerance for cheating the system–for both petty and federal crimes. For example, almost 56 percent of Canadians agreed that it is never justifiable to avoid paying fare when using public transportation; this is only slightly lower than the 66 percent who said it is never justifiable to unjustly claim government benefits or cheat on taxes (Online Data Analysis.)
Solidarity is a measure of the interpersonal trust, tolerance, and respect found within a people. It is also characterized by a ‘Good Samaritan’ attitude of willingness to help someone in need. Anecdotally, Canadians are well-known for their politeness and trustworthiness. Objectively, Canada’s measurements on questions of solidarity exhibit the most marked difference between itself and the US, out of every facet of civic culture thus far (Samuels, 124.)
About 43 percent of Canadians said most people can be trusted, compared to the US’ 39 percent and Russia’s 26 percent. In eliminating strangers from this hypothetical pool of people, the difference between respondents is only heightened. When it comes to acquaintances, colleagues, and friends, 47 percent of Canadians say they “trust completely” people they know personally, as opposed to 29 percent of Americans and 21 percent of Russians (Online Data Analysis.)
The argument that Canada’s strong civic culture contributes to its strong democracy is manifested in many facets of Canadian policy. For example, the nation has exceptionally high trust ratings– especially as a country in the Western hemisphere which was founded through colonialism and didn’t gain full independence until 1982. This high level of trust is perhaps demonstrated through Canada’s limited military spending. Although by land mass, it is the second largest country in the world; in 2012 its military expenditures totaled less than $25 billion. (Comparatively, the United States spent $711 billion in 2012) (List of Countries by Military Expenditures.)
Similarly, Canada’s foreign policy has largely been friendly and without incident. It is a member of many international organizations including the UN, NATO, NAFTA, G8, G20, OECD, and more. On an interpersonal, national, and international level, Canada’s healthy civic culture reinforces its tradition of a peaceful yet vibrant democracy.
Sources
"The Economist Intelligence Unit." Democracy Index 2011: Democracy Under Stress. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. <https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2011>.
"Health Care in Canada." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Canada>.
"List of Countries by Military Expenditures." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures>.
"Online Data Analysis." World Values Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wvsevsdb.com/wvs/WVSAnalizeQuestion.jsp>.
Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.
Your ideas are interesting and your paper overall very well done, but you're making a couple of assumptions that don't hold up particularly well, and you gloss over a few important details. Here are my issues – first, civic engagement.
ReplyDeleteAll of the non-political civic engagement work you did is fantastic. My complaint here is that you take out the political entirely, which is (by your own admission) the “first” or strict definition of civic engagement. What happens when you throw it in? Russia makes Canada look great, yes – but we know that going in. That's because Russia is not a fair (political) comparison - it has not been a democracy very long (if at all) – nowhere near as long as Canada (at least functionally). That leaves the US. Here Canada falls flat on its face. Let's look at the numbers.
Important in life: Politics
Very important
11.0 % US
11.7 % Canada
Rather important
40.3 % US
37.4 % Canada
Not very important
40.1 % US
36.6 % Canada
Not at all important
8.6 % US
14.2 % Canada
They're roughly even, with Canada a little behind, until you have almost double the American percentage declaring that politics doesn't matter at all.
And what of participation? The numbers are even more slanted against Canada.
Active/Inactive membership of political party
Not a member
51.8 % US
82.6 % Canada
Inactive member
31.9 % US
12.3 % Canada
Active member
16.3 % US
5.1 % Canada
Not only are 30% more Canadians not members of a political party than Americans, only 5.1% of Canadians are active members of a political party at all, less than a third of the American tally. Remember your definition of civic engagement? It went “how involved they are on a political level.” It's hard to match up these numbers with your statement that Canada “demonstrates the most civic engagement in every category except Religious Organizations.”
Next, political equality. I've actually lived under the Canadian socialized health care, and it does not cost “little to nothing,” nor is it egalitarian. Some economics (and opinion) will come into play. The government pays for the health care system through taxes, so is paying for it. Second, because the good has already been purchased, people try to maximize their consumption, resulting in lines for the emergency room and urgent care of up to 12 hours, from first hand accounts. To get immediate service in the cities (aside from busting the lines via ambulance) you must go to an expensive private provider (thanks to the now limited demand for private health care, as most people can't afford to pay for it twice).
The rest of your statistics for this section are revealing but not always relevant. Believing your country is democratic doesn't make its citizens free – The US was a viewed as a democracy back in the slave holding times by the citizens (the fact that it's not actually a democracy aside). And as for cheating – the real question is not the moral question of breaking the rules, it's whether or not the rules are equal for everyone.
Finally, Solidarity. Fantastic statistics, but I start to run into problems with your examples. Yes, Canada became officially fully independent with the Canada Act of 1982 – kind of. They're actually still a constitutional monarchy, according to the govt. of Canada's webpage (http://www.canada.gc.ca/aboutgov-ausujetgouv/structure/menu-eng.html). For military spending, yes, they don't spend very much, but they also have a single bordering country that hasn't expressed interest in fighting since 1812. These subjective examples falsely prop up your Canada-Russia comparisons (both “new” democracies and same climates, but different spending).
So, in short, an excellent job with little issues that add up.