What do you see Your worldview is your outlook on life and the world and how you interpret events on a daily basis Your worldview relates to your values which are your principles or standards of behaviour and priorities in life ID: 640968
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Slide1
Slide Deck 4:
Municipal ElectionsSlide2
What do you see?
Slide3
Your
worldview
is your outlook on life and the world, and how you interpret events on a daily basis
Your worldview relates to your
values
, which are your principles or standards of behaviour and priorities in life
Your Values and WorldviewSlide4
Which people and experiences do
y
ou think have had the largest impact on your own worldview?Slide5
What is a political ideology?
A political ideology is a set of shared ideas or beliefs about the role of
government
and how
society
should work A political ideology is your political worldviewSlide6
Which do you think is better and why?
Lower taxes, smaller government and less government services
Higher taxes, larger government and more government servicesSlide7
Which statement do you believe more strongly and why?
Society is not bound by tradition
Traditions provide security and stability and must be respectedSlide8
How many political ideologies can you name?Slide9
Common Ideologies
Liberalism
– Favours individual liberty but acknowledges the need for some form of government intervention in the economy
Conservatism
– Advocates for the preservation of society (tradition) and opposes radical changesSocialism – Favours a political and economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are owned by the community collectively
Libertarianism
– Advocates for minimal state intervention in the lives of citizensSlide10
Other Ideologies
Communism
– Promotes the establishment of an egalitarian and classless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property
Fascism
– Favours strict social and economical measures as a method of empowering the government and limiting the freedom of citizensSlide11
Which ideology (or ideologies) do you most closely identify with?Slide12
Why do we have elections? Slide13
Elections
Elections
are contests of leadership, ideas, politics and power
They provide citizens an opportunity to decide
on
their
next government and the future direction of their country
, province or
communitySlide14
Have you ever voted for something before?
How was the winner decided?
Did you think the process was fair? Why or why not?Slide15
On
October 16, 2017
, Albertans will head to the polls to elect candidates to their municipal councils, which make decisions about local government services and the planning, growth and safety of their communitySlide16
Candidates
A
candidate
is an individual who competes for the job of elected representative
It is
their job to share their vision, ideas and
commitment to the job in order to win the support of voters during a campaignMunicipal candidates run as independents
and they are not affiliated with any partySlide17
The Municipal Election Process
The size and arrangement of the council influences how
the election
process is
organized, and it
differs across the
provinceCouncil members can be elected at large
(by all eligible voters in the municipality) or by a
ward
or
division system
where the municipality is
broken down
into smaller geographic areas that vote for
their own representatives
In
some cases, the head of
council is
elected at large, but in other cases, elected
council members
choose someone from among themselvesSlide18
Electoral Systems
An
electoral system
is a set of rules that determine
how choices
are presented to voters, how preferences
are recorded and the methods used for determining
which candidate winsThere
are many different
electoral systems
used around the
worldSlide19
First-Past-the-Post
First-Past-The-Post (FPTP)
is the voting system currently used across Canada and for municipal elections in Alberta
A
successful candidate must receive the
most votes
, or at least one more vote than any of the
other candidates
(plurality), in order to be elected in their areaSlide20
Example of First-Past-The-Post
CANDIDATE
NUMBER OF VOTES
Thomas
340
Lisa 401 Mohamed 155 Emma 191
Question: In an election to select one representative, which candidate would be the winner?Slide21
Do you think First-Past-the-Post is a fair way to elect our representatives?
Can you think of any alternatives?Slide22
Municipal Election Ballots
V
oters
can mark their
ballot
for
as many preferences as there are councillors/aldermen to be elected in their jurisdiction or ward/divisionSome municipalities elect
multiple councillors or aldermen per ward/division
Depending on the race, there may be two, three or even ten or more candidates running for a
seatSlide23
Question
:
How many candidates can you mark your ballot for if
six councillors/aldermen are elected at large for an entire
municipality?Slide24
Answer
:
V
oters
can mark their ballot for up to six
candidates
The six candidates with the most number of votes earn a seat on councilSlide25
Question
:
How many candidates can you mark your ballot for in a
ward/division
system where
only one councillor is to be
elected?Slide26
Answer
:
The
voter can only choose one
candidate
The
candidate with the most number of votes is elected as councillor/alderman for the ward/divisionSlide27
Acclaimed Candidates
A candidate can simply be elected
by
acclamation
if they have
no opponentsNo vote is held for that race and the lone candidate becomes the representativeSlide28
Why do you think there are so many local election races
across the province with
acclaimed candidates?Slide29
How does someone run for election?
In order to run as
a municipal election
candidate
in Alberta,
you must: Be at least 18 years of age;Be a Canadian
citizen; andHave
been a resident of the local
jurisdiction for
the six consecutive months immediately
preceding nomination
day (the deadline for filing
candidate nomination
paperwork
).
Additional
qualifications may apply, depending on
the municipality
you choose to run in as a
candidateSlide30
What
experience or qualifications should a
council member
have?
What
characteristics or values should
they exemplify or demonstrate?Slide31
Getting to know the Candidates
There are many ways to learn about your local candidates:
Traditional media sources (radio, TV, newspaper and magazines)
Social media (websites, Twitter, Facebook)
Candidate debates
or town hall
meetingsCampaign offices and events, door-to-door canvassing
Discussion with family and friendsSlide32
Debrief
What can you do to shape your own political beliefs and opinions?
Why is it healthy to question each other’s viewpoints?
Which local issues do you feel need to be addressed by the next municipal council?