Common Characteristics of All Democratic Governments
- Periodic election of leaders
- All adult citizens can vote
- Citizens are free to assemble and organize
- Citizens have access to information. There can be no effective citizen involvement without an informed populace.
In addition to the Common Characteristics, Canada’s should have the following characteristics:
- government should guarantee justice for all Canadian citizens.
- government policies should ensure gender equality in all matters.
- government should act on the principle of the separation of religion and state.
- government decisions should never be driven by ideology, by partisanship, nor by attempts to appease certain groups for political or financial reasons.
- government should welcome dissenting voices and encourage and support advocacy. The greater the degree of access that one has to decision making, the greater is the democratic process. Governments with a high degree of democracy support a high degree of advocacy.
