Closing the Gap: The Democratic State We Are In

AuthorAllan C. Hutchinson
Pages59-81
59

Closing he Gap:
     
e have equently printed the word “ emocracy.” et  cannot
too oen repeat that it is a word the real gist of whi ch still sleeps,
quite unawakened, n otwithstanding the resonance and the many
angry tempests ou t of which its syllables have come,  om pen or
tongue. t is a great word , whose history,  suppose, remai ns un-
written, because that hi story has yet to be enacted.
~ Walt Whitman
C being one of the world’s leading coun-
tries. Former prime minister Jea n Chrétien was fond of tell ing friend
and foe alike that “Canada was the best place to live in the world.” In-
deed, in comparative terms, there is much to praise. In the United Na-
tion’s annual Human Development Index, Canada has always done
extremely well in terms of ensuring that people are living a long and
healthy life, being educated, and having a decent standard of living.
It was in top spot for most of the s, fell as low as eighth in ,
but returned to fourth place in , behind only Norway, Sweden,
and Australia. Indeed, in global and historical terms, there is much
to celebrate in the development and achievements of Canadian soci-
ety. Yet, for all the hype, Canadian democracy is in trouble. Although
PART ONE: SURV EYI NG T HE SC ENE
60
there has never been a golden age for Canadian democracy, what now
passes for democracy is a very narrow, elite, and shallow fullment
of democracy’s ample promise and possibilities. Notwithstanding in-
creases in many economic and social indicators, Canadians are less
involved in governing themselves than they have been for many dec-
ades. e twin foundations of democracy popular participation
and political accountability —are going the way of the polar ice-caps.
ere seems to be an implicit Faustian bargain between the governing
elite and rank-and-le Canadians that the price of general socio-eco-
nomic advancement is at the cost of democratic involvement. When it
comes to “the democratic state we are in,” a disquieting complacency
has become a standard feature of the Canadian outlook. e project
of democratic governance has stalled and there is a sizeable and in-
creasing democratic decit.
At the heart of the democratic ideal is the understanding that peo-
ple should rule over themselves. e smaller the gap is between the
rulers and the ruled and between the powerful and the powerless, the
better and more democratic that society will be. However, despite
high-minded rhetoric to the contrary, the gap between ordinary Ca-
nadians and those who govern them is actually getting broader and
deeper. Not only is participation in those areas of life where democ-
racy is practised declining and becoming less vigorous but those areas
themselves are relatively limited and becoming even more circum-
scribed. When it comes to corporations, democratic i mperatives have
been conspicuous by their absence. Indeed, many commentators seem
quite content to concede that democracy has little role to play in mat-
ters of corporate governance. is acceptance seems an un necessarily
quiescent stance. While I acknowledge that large corporations do not
t into democratic theory and practice, I do not accept that this sepa-
ration is desirable or inevitable. In contrast to prevailing corporate
sentiments, my approach is less about making democratic theory ac-
commodate large corporations and more about making large corpora-
tions conform to democratic theory. If we are to take a serious stab
at closing the gap, corporations must be brought into the democratic
sphere, not le outside it.

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