Topics in political institution reform

Hi guys! My apologies for only joining the discussion now! I have read through everyone’s comments and suggestions and there are some great ideas here. I’ll start by adding my two cents based on what we’ve got so far...

I agree with Riley about polling on BC electoral reform and Federal senate reform. As has been said before...the judiciary system is somewhat complicated and has many levels, and I doubt we would get very informed opinions on Canadian judicial reform, if very many opinions at all! I personally can’t recall a recent event in the judiciary system that achieved *a lot* of media coverage other than the Ontario prostitution case, and going off of what Aaron said, we would likely get respondents expressing their feelings about prostitution, not the institution of the judiciary. And unless citizens find the judiciary undemocratic (meaning they’d need to have a grasp on how the judiciary works), the federal courts have generally been on the “peoples’” side, ruling in favour of citizens through their interpretations of Constitutional rights. If anything we’d get a lot of people who were happy with the status quo, a couple of people who are in favour of reform, and a lot of “don’t knows”.

For BC electoral reform questions, I liked what Markus said about finding a theory for why STV didn’t pass – perhaps finding out whether it was STV that BC residents didn’t like or if it was the idea electoral reform they didn't like. A lot of debate ensued post-election on whether or not BC residents were briefed properly on the complexities of STV. We could start by asking BC residents: 1) Did you vote in the 2008 referendum to change BC’s electoral system from FPTP to STV? 2) Do you agree with the following statement: Electoral reform in BC is necessary. 3) Do you agree with the following statement: BC residents were not given sufficient information on and explanation of the STV system prior to the 2008 referendum. 4) On a scale one (no understanding) through five (full understanding), rank your understanding of the Single Transferable Voting system.