Voting is perhaps the most direct expression of our democratic rights. It is the key to democratic governance. Political science textbooks provide lots of generalized information about what influences voter choice. Robert and Doreen Jackson's well known Canadian politics textbook shows us that we are influenced by both long-term factors including "social cleavages and socio-economic factors [such as] class, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, region and urban / rural living; political socialization; and party identification." These long-term factors are at the top of what Jackson and Jackson call the "funnel of influence." At the bottom of the funnel we find the short-term factors dictated by the election campaign: "issues, events, party leaders, candidates and debates." All of these variables influence how we make our final decision on Election Day.
Over the next number of weeks you will hear pundits, polls and predictions telling you about who is likely to win, what are the "key" issues and what the parties stand for. The fact is that in British Columbia right now "the race is on." Information will come to you daily or, in this world of up-to-the-minute reporting, the information will be sent directly to your mobile device and it will be buzzing and beeping with the latest news. This bombardment of rhetoric can be overwhelming and it is easy to get caught up in election frenzy. So, this week, my column is dedicated to taking a quiet moment to reflect on your vote choice.
Let me start by saying that British Columbians have a habit of punishing governments rather than electing governments. This strategy, which often sends us into disproportionate seat distribution, is not a particularly healthy way to choose governments particularly since BC political parties are polarized. A decision to vote based on the idea of "throwing them out" probably does more harm than good and gives the opposition party a sense that they have a real mandate to swing the province in a new direction.
So how should we decide? Well, if we take the lead from pollsters we might think about the questions that are asked of us about our voting preferences. For those who have not party affiliation and are therefore looking to choose a candidate, the first question should be, "what are the three most important issues I would like to see the government address?" Now, polls and pundits sometime get this wrong because they ask the question in such a way that does not rank the answers. So I might say, "The economy, education policy and the environment." The problem here is that we can't tell which issue trumps. In fact, we can tell very little by the answer "the economy." "The economy" does not really mean anything because I could believe that the answer to fixing the economy is for the government to infuse lots of dollars into infrastructure and training programs and education. Or, I might think the answer is for the government to get out of the way, to lower taxes and to deregulate. The real critical question one should ask is "what should the government do to deal with the issues?" Here is where the rubber hits the road and we need to do our homework. (Ahhh.... just like a professor to assign homework...)
A lot of election campaigning can be pretty thin on providing real details about a party's vision for governing but sometimes campaign platforms actually outline policy plans. Our job as voters is to try to find, or ask about, key policy plans in areas that are important to us. It also means weighing the really important issues versus those that are secondary. Moreover, we have to understand the nuances and trade-offs that come with governing. For example, the call for lower taxes is now the mantra of many individuals and groups and this sounds great until we realize that lowering taxes means that we have to give up something else.
The great thing about a democracy is the gift of the quiet moment in the voting booth away from the frenzy of the media or the loud colleague at the water cooler. You get to choose your government. So do it thoughtfully and do it on your own terms.
