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A review by sjlee
Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canada's Democracy by Kennedy Stewart, Michael Chong, Scott Simms
3.0
I was pretty excited when I heard about Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canada's Democracy. I'm a big nerd for electoral and parliamentary reform so reading essays from men and women who actually served within the House of Commons and their notions how it could best be changed was an exciting approach to me. It also coincided with the discussions about electoral reform occurring more broadly in Canadian society, but which were stymied by Justin Trudeau's government.
As mentioned, the book is a collection of essays and as such the quality of the commentary varies significantly from entry to entry. This is not a cohesive vision for what Parliament should be or how Canadian democracy would function. It's probably a universal belief that we should 'improve our democracy' but what that actually means is entirely within the eye of the beholder.
For those who are immersed in this subject already these essays are probably going to feel pretty surface level. I would assume the book is targeted more at the average engaged citizen who might not be familiar with this debate/discussion. As a result I think it does a fine job outlining some of the issues and possible solutions. It would provide a good foundation for someone to move forward on and do further research.
However, for me, I found it to be too thin and too light. Not to mention reading pages of proposals on how to fix Question Period seems like a major waste of time when how we elect and how we organize political parties is the source of the dysfunction we see there.
So, if you fall into the former camp this book is definitely something that can be of value, but for those familiar with the topics they can likely safely pass.
As mentioned, the book is a collection of essays and as such the quality of the commentary varies significantly from entry to entry. This is not a cohesive vision for what Parliament should be or how Canadian democracy would function. It's probably a universal belief that we should 'improve our democracy' but what that actually means is entirely within the eye of the beholder.
For those who are immersed in this subject already these essays are probably going to feel pretty surface level. I would assume the book is targeted more at the average engaged citizen who might not be familiar with this debate/discussion. As a result I think it does a fine job outlining some of the issues and possible solutions. It would provide a good foundation for someone to move forward on and do further research.
However, for me, I found it to be too thin and too light. Not to mention reading pages of proposals on how to fix Question Period seems like a major waste of time when how we elect and how we organize political parties is the source of the dysfunction we see there.
So, if you fall into the former camp this book is definitely something that can be of value, but for those familiar with the topics they can likely safely pass.