Democracy is fragile. As a federal election approaches in Canada, it’s important to know the warning signs of extremism and anti-democratic practices that are now routine in the U.S.

Author: Matthew Lebo - Professor, Department of Political Science, Western University

  • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    15·
    14 hours ago

    Ultimately, institutions alone do not protect a country from the rise of authoritarianism. Democracy can be fragile. As a federal election approaches in Canada, it’s important to know the warning signs of extremism and anti-democratic practices that are creeping into our politics.

    Keep your eyes and ears open and your elbows up, Canada.

  • Grimpen@lemmy.ca
    30·
    16 hours ago

    There are two things that I find soothing in the recent debacle wrt basic Canadian sovereignty.

    First, executive authority resides in the PM, and the PM is selected by and must face question period in the House of Commons. The vaunted US system of checks and balances is useless when the other branches are compromised.

    Second, the fundamental problem in the US isn’t structural, it’s that around a third of the electorate is okay with the rank corruption and self-dealing from the top. They cheer on the acts of a Presidential monarch. It doesn’t matter how your democracy is structured, when around a third of your electorate no longer values democratic traditions you are in a dangerous place.

    In Canada though, we’ve seen a fairly strong repudiation of Maple MAGA and the Qonvoy movement. It’s a little weird, I’ve seen Qonvoyers missing the point, thinking everyone is on side with them somehow, because Canadian flags? But the ratio of pro-Qonvoy pro-Canada sentiment (where there isn’t an obvious and rampant bot problem) seems to skew pretty far away from the Qonvoyers. I think we face the same dangers the US is facing, but it looks like we have a little more runway.

    As to point 2, do not rely on Xitter for your news. It has turned into an algorithmically twisted bot-manipulated hellscape of discord and echo chambers. Speaking to the choir here on Lemmy.ca Canada community, but encourage Canadians to make an account on a Canadian Mastodon or Lemmy instance. I recommend dipping their toe into the Fediverse with Mastodon, and just following some Canadian news sources.