The idea behind measuring the health of Canadian democracy was born out of the first-ever set of exit interviews conducted with 65 former Members of Parliament, a project Samara initiated in 2009 when they realized that exit interviews, common in most businesses, had never before been done in one of the most important workplaces in our country: Parliament.
In these interviews, MPs often admitted that they and their colleagues did not do the jobs they could have. They also conceded that their own understanding of political institutions was limited. We believe these MPs have uncovered a disturbing trend in Canada’s democratic life: We know something is broken, but we don’t know enough to address it. By evaluating the performance of democracy in a comprehensive way, we begin to support evidence-based solutions to what ails our democratic system.
Project description
We are developing an index to measure the performance of Canadian democracy. This index will measure what is, and what isn’t, working in Canadian democracy. Our goal is to be inspirational: to give praise and point out deficiencies, but above all, to encourage focus on the continued improvement of our political system.
Our research will focus on the performance of three essential components of democracy: citizen participation, media and public debate, and political leadership (including Parliament and political parties). Each component will be measured against the ideals of inclusiveness, responsiveness, and participation.
Feedback drawn from extensive public outreach will drive this research, in conjunction with rigorous research methodology from our team of over 20 academic advisors.
Other studies
To kick-off the index project, we’ve initiated three studies designed to initiate a public conversation, as well as to generate new indicators for the index and new ways of evaluating democracy between elections.
The first study, released in December 2011, is designed to engage more Canadian citizens in conversations about Canada’s democracy. Through a series of focus groups with groups of Canadians less likely to participate in politics, we’re working to uncover new insights into how those less engaged feel and how they view politics and their role in it. These conversations will then be extended to include the public as part of our outreach strategy. Read the first report here [link].
The second study will focus on the media, and seeks to map several high-profile political issues across different forms of media, including the newspaper, television and online. The research will map who is talking to whom, through which media and to what effect. In doing so, it will analyze the state of power relations in media, and the emergent role of social media in the public affairs discourse.
The third study will extend the MP Exit Interview project with a second set of interviews with the MPs from the 40th Parliament who left office before the May 2011 election. These interviews will build on the findings of the first set, and focus on learning more about the relationship between MPs and their parties in Parliament, and their constituents, as well as understanding their decision-making process.
These studies will then culminate in the release of an annual, comprehensive study on the performance of Canadian democracy.
For more information on our research, please contact Heather Bastedo through our Contact Us page.