Canadian Democracy

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Canada: An examination of Canada’s democracy through economic success With very little political upheaval and a history of a vibrant economy Canada has had a relatively smooth democratization process. Canada fits the model of success characterized as Western liberal democracy. In doing so, Canada has been successful in its attempt at completing positive democratic consolidation and securing an advanced liberal democracy. Canada’s most significant variable in successful democratization has been the state’s economy. Given the economy, Canada can look forward to prolonged continued governing success. In order for a state to successfully secure itself as an advanced democracy the state must employ a positive notion of democratic consolidation.…show more content…
The Canadian governments website boast, “Canadian businesses are ‘getting connected’ more than ever before, exploiting advances in communications technology to reach out into the global marketplace in search of buyers for their products. Though we have always been a nation looking outward for markets, Canadian trade continues to grow beyond our borders” (The Government of Canada, economy overview). According to Robert Pastor, the head professor of international relations at Emory University, trade between the United States and Canada has historically been high. Writing about the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) impact international trade in Canada, Pastor writes, “Although two-way trade between Canada and the United States had always been high, it had stagnated for the decade before the Free Trade Agreement; then it doubled” (Pastor 70). After signing NAFTA, Canada experienced a major boom in the economy. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International trade concluded that the two main factors contributing to the increased trade were the FTA and NAFTA. Pastor writes, “NAFTA deepened Canada’s dependence on the US market, but it also helped diversify and internalize its economy” (Pastor 80). Canada, since NAFTA, has made a clear commitment to actively participate in the world economy. Canada’s trade as…show more content…
Fukuyama explains, “This is because there are a number of countries that would like to increase there tax percentage of GDP however they do not have the capacity to enforce such tax laws” (Fukuyama 20). There is more to capacity than just the ability to implement rule. A state can force or use coercion to demand order yet not be legitimate, therefore that state would not have capacity. In order for a state to have capacity it has to enforce its scope legitimately. A useful means of measuring a states capacity is using the corruption perception index (CPI). CPI asks business men from various countries to rank corruption of their government from 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst. In 2005 Canada’s CPI was 8.4 giving them the 14th best score of the 159 polled countries. The U.S. had a score of 7.6 ranking it 17th, while Sweden received a score of 9.2 ranking them 6th in the world. CPI is a good reflection of states legitimacy in the eyes of the populous. There is a strong connection that links states with low CPI scores and unsuccessful democratization (or a lack of democratic institutions all together) including Iraq at 2.2, Egypt at 3.4, India at 2.9 and South Africa at 4.5. If a state does not have capacity to successfully implement its rule its legitimacy is questionable, regardless of the

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