Term Paper on "Open Elections"

Term Paper 7 pages (2325 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

If loyalty is fragile to the party and people are disgruntled that their candidate did not prevail, despite the Party's support of the open nomination process, they are likely to leave it in a manner which is publically embarrassing and divisive. People are unlikely to remain with the Liberals simply because the Party offers the prospect for open elections but the evidence clearly suggests that they are willing to leave it if they believe that their chosen candidate has been unfairly treated. Moreover, the candidates that have been the centers of dispute like Bertschi and Dhahan have been all too willing to point fingers at the entrenched leadership as denying them what is rightfully theirs. Of course, this negative publicity is not 'good' for the Liberal Party, but the question arises as to whether these sentiments are 'good' for Canada as a whole, either, given that the entire country does not benefit from such excessive focus on the electoral process vs. The issues.

Editorialist Kheiriddin added that for the Liberal Party, she believed that an open nominations process is particularly useless and not really in keeping with the true nature of the party's appeal. "One of the key aspects of the Liberal party's strength at the ballot box is its ability to come together around the question of power -- shape-shifting to surround the electorate's political center of gravity, wherever it happens to be at the time. At the candidate level, this translates into a need for electable candidates & #8230; process be damned."[footnoteRef:9] Even though an 'open' process may sound appealing, it is often not really the best way to ensure that the most electable candidates, particularly on a national level, are supported in their rise to power. [9: Kheiriddin 2014]

People who rise from the grassroots often have relatively narrow agendas and passionate but limited numbers of supporters, versus nationally-focused candidates. Candidates may have strong support but often have extremely polarizing points-of-view and in the past the Liberal Party has favored moderate, professional political centrists with a broad appeal. Furthermore, many argue that the 'open' electoral process is fundamentally unnatural. "It's also natural for leaders in any party to want to surround themselves with loyalists. What better way to secure loyalty than by securing a nomination?"[footnoteRef:10] That is, after all, the purpose of a political party. A party by its very nature to some extent is elitist because it is exclusive. Why should the Liberal Party be seen as wrong simply because it engages in such exclusivity? [10: Kheiriddin 2014]

However, the problems which have dogged the Liberals have not deterred the other major political parties from declaring their support for open nominations. The NDP, the Liberal Party's rival to the left, has claimed that it will institute open nominations in a manner that will circumvent the problems which have plagued the Liberals. "The new national director of the NDP is pledging that the party will hold open nomination races to choose candidates for the 2015 election, even if it means that sitting MPs could be knocked off… she said her party won't repeat the mistakes of the federal Conservatives and Liberals, whose grassroots members have complained of interference in local nominations by senior party officials."[footnoteRef:11] The NDP is a left-of-center party, however, and may not be as harmed by the damage done to its image as the centrist Liberals because of greater ideological coherency amongst its members. Although Conservative Party attempts to integrate the open nomination process into its procedures have not ended well either -- "the Tories' former executive director, Dimitri Soudas…was forced out after helping his fiancee, Conservative MP Eve Adams, in her nomination race."[footnoteRef:12] The overall consensus has been that the promises of a more democratic Canada as a result of the open nominations process have yet to be realized and are unlikely to be so in the near future. [11: Mark Kennedy, "NDP's new national director promises open nominations," O. Canada, 6 Apr 2014, http://o.canada.com/news/ndps-new-national-director-promises-open-nominations [accessed 10 Apr 2014]] [12: Kennedy 2012]

Bibliography

Kennedy, Mark "NDP's new national director promises open nominations," O. Canada.

6 Apr 2014. http://o.canada.com/news/ndps-new-national-director-promises-open-nominations [accessed 10 Apr 2014]

Kennedy, Mark. "Police intervene after fight breaks out at meeting to nominate Andrew Leslie as liberal candidate in Ottawa-Orleans." The National Post. 7 Dec 2014. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/police-break-up-noisy-scuffle-at-meeting-to-nominate-andrew-leslie-as-liberal-candidate-in-ottawa-orleans [accessed 10 Apr 2015]

Kheiriddin, Tasha. "Trudeau's 'open' nominations are blowing up in his face." iPolitics.

11 Dec 2014. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/12/11/trudeaus-open-nominations-are-blowing-up-in-his-face / [accessed 10 Apr 2015]

"Liberal Party." The Canadian Encyclopedia.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/liberal-party / [accessed 10 Apr 2015]

Milewski, Terry. "B.C. Sikhs quit Liberals to protest Justin Trudeau's 'star' candidate."

9 Apr 2014. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/b-c-sikhs-quit-liberals-to-protest-justin-trudeau-s-star-candidate-1.2866343 [accessed 10 Apr 2015]

"Open nominations." Liberal Party. http://www.liberal.ca/open-nominations/

[accessed 10 Apr 2015]

Raj, Althea. "Justin Trudeau's Open Nominations Vow Called A 'Farce.'" The Huffington Post.

18 Aug 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/18/justin-trudeau-open-nominations-pledge_n_5687753.html [accessed 10 Apr 2015] READ MORE

How to Reference "Open Elections" Term Paper in a Bibliography

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