At least, that’s what people across the country have been telling us. In recent years, we have seen voter turnout fall to historic lows, and the number of people involved in political activities of all kinds is decreasing. Given this problem, we wanted to know: Why are people disengaging from politics? There are lots of reasons out there, but we wanted to get some answers to this question... [More]

For today's 5-minute review, Samara's Jane Hilderman writes about a new documentary, MissRepresentation. What is it?MissRepresentation is a new documentary released in 2011 that looks at the connection between how the American media portrays women and American women’s underrepresentation among ranks of elected representatives and other leadership positions. The documentary is created by G... [More]

Elections Canada released the results from its National Youth Survey yesterday and, unsurprisingly, they point to a persistent and grave crisis in confidence in electoral politics among young Canadians. As Gloria Galloway writes in today’s Globe and Mail, “the voter participation rate of people between the ages of 18 and 24 rose from 37.4 per cent in 2008 to an only slightly less abys... [More]

Today guest blogger Kirk Zurell responds to a series recently featured on the Samara blog that explored the possibility of creating a fourth institution of parliament, or "Digital House." Zurell is a technical communicator and computing professional based in Waterloo, Ontario. Mark Dance proposes adapting the road tested “user-driven curation” model for a digital legislative house, l... [More]

In a recent post on the Samara blog we highlighted the point made by public affairs consultant Robin Sears that riding associations offer a key point of entry for citizens to not only get involved in the political process, but to ultimately exercise power within it. Speaking as a panellist at the DiverseCity Post-Election Update, held Tuesday November 8th, Sears acknowledged that while several &l... [More]

"Should we make voting mandatory?" asks a political debate going on in the New York Times.  It's a fascinating discussion from a varied group of people, including Lisa Hill, a political scientist from the University of Adelaide.  Australia is, of course, the most often cited example of where voting is mandatory (though there are other countries that require voting as well). She argues t... [More]

We recently blogged about the different ways people can get involved with Samara, and mentioned the opportunity to contribute book and movie reviews to our blog. For more information on this, you can check out the "5-minute review" guidelines on our website. You can also draw inspiration from this fine example from Samara's Jane Hilderman: What is it? Title: The Legislative Legacy of Congressio... [More]

  Last week, The Agenda's Steve Paikin interviewed me on the findings of our fourth and final MP exit interview report, "The Outsiders' Manifesto," which summarizes the MPs' advice and recommendations. It's always a privilege to appear on The Agenda, as they always allows enough time for in-depth conversation. Of course, as soon as the interview ended I realized I forgot to highlight that... [More]

In addition to keeping readers up to date on our program activities, we at Samara thought we’d start sharing some of the writing, reporting and internet ephemera that pique our team members’ interest from week to week. Friday seems a better day than any to kick off this new feature of our blog, and so today, I leave you with my recommendation for a short and compelling read from the De... [More]

If there is one thing everyone can agree on, Canadians’ declining participation in their political system is a cause for concern. Yet there is much less agreement on the best way forward to increase participation again.  Samara’s guest blogger, Mark Dance, makes the case in a three-part series for new innovation outside of the traditional structure of Parliament. He argues for th... [More]

Saskatchewan voters head to the polls today, wrapping up a veritable season of provincial elections: Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador - not to mention the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Alberta, with a Progressive Conservative party ballot, could almost be counted among the company, too. As the dust settles, what can we learn? The November issue of Policy Optio... [More]

It’s been a busy fall here at Samara headquarters, one marked by a number of exciting changes and accomplishments. Perhaps most notable - in addition to releasing our final and most extensive instalment of the MP exit interview project - is that since September, we've gained 3 new staff members, bringing the Samara team to a total of 8. Despite our relative growth, Samara remains a small or... [More]

In my previous post I introduced Canada25, an organization that facilitated the participation of thousands of young Canadians in public policy between 2000-2007. As I wrote in that post, I now see Canada25 as a precursor to what the internet now enables: a much larger articulation of citizens' desire to be involved in their communities and their countries.  Canada25 existed to help organ... [More]

Last week I was invited to speak to a group of public engagement professionals who work for the Canadian government. They were interested in some of the work I've contributed to that's helped facilitate people's involvement in public service and public policy over the years, and what I've learned about the state of citizen engagement in our public life today. Watchers of this space (we hope!) h... [More]

In The Outsiders’ Manifesto, the last in our series of MP exit interview reports, we highlighted a number of recommendations made by former MPs on how to repair the growing disconnect between citizens and their elected representatives. Among them was the need to improve civics education in schools so that young Canadians could become better informed and - as the argument goes - more engaged ... [More]

For the past two years, Samara has had the honour of bringing some of journalism’s leading innovators to Toronto through its partnership with the Massey College Canadian Journalism Fellowship. This year, we’re teamed up with a dynamic roster of journalists who bring a range of experiences and perspectives to the table. The Massey-Samara seminar series is founded on the belief that pub... [More]

In Saturday's Globe and Mail, John Ibbitson explored the state of voter engagement in the wake of dropping turnout in the various provincial and territorial elections this fall. The article includes a short preview of our upcoming project, a series of focus groups with Canadians who are not interested in politics.  The results will be released in late November, but as we note in the article,... [More]

For anyone in the Niagara region who may be interested, on Tuesday October 18th Samara executive director Alison Loat will be in St. Catharines to give a talk entitled “Our Accidental Politics: What Former MPs Tell Us About Canadian Democracy.” Part of the MGI-Gordon Distinguished Speakers Series at Ridley College, the event is free and open to the public. In it Alison will explore som... [More]

As Mia Rabson writes in today’s Winnipeg Free Press, all three provincial elections completed this fall have been “marred with overwhelming levels of negative advertising and political attacks.” While negative campaigning is just one factor influencing voter turnout rates and levels of civic engagement in Canada, Samara guest blogger Anne Murray tells us about several initia... [More]

Concluding his three-part series on the theme of the "digital commons," guest blogger Mark Dance discusses how a look at parliament's history may hold the key to its future success. "We have to go out and engage in a truly open way and take a bit of a risk. I guess that’s what’s underlying a lot of this: you don’t know what the kids are going to come up with but you ha... [More]