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• Roughly half of Canadians are not satis-
fied with the way democracy works with-
in their borders;
• Canadians are less involved in tradition-
al political activities compared to non-
traditional ones;
• Fewer Canadians are voting, or with less
frequency (only 59.1% of eligible voters
voted in the 2008 election); and,
• Between 1997 and 2010 the proportion of
Canadians who felt that federal govern-
ment policies had an effect on their lives
ranged from 6% to 20%.
Lynne Slotek, former CEO of the Insti-
tute of Well-Being states, “Too many Ca-
nadians feel that their voices are not be-
ing heard; that their efforts to influence
government policy are ignored or incon-
sequential; and, that the decisions their
elected representatives are making reflect
neither their values nor their concerns.”
Additionally, Samara — a nonprofit and
non-partisan advocacy group for citizen
10
/ Canadian Government Executive
// October 2015
Innovation
proving current consultation frameworks
so that citizen participation in policymak-
ing improves.
According to Diana Farrell and Andrew
Goodman of McKinsey & Co., governments
are facing “a daunting paradox.” On the
one hand, they operate in increasingly
complex and ever-changing environments
where they must deliver on several policy
objectives. On the other hand, govern-
ments are also faced with shrinking bud-
gets, debt burdens, and eroding public
trust. As such, in order to maintain the
confidence of citizens, governments are
expected to do more with less, while at
the same time being seen to deliver on its
promises.
In 2010, Waterloo University Institute of
Well-Being released a report on democrat-
ic engagement. Using their Democratic
Engagement Model, they assessed individ-
ual, government, and global engagement.
There were several noteworthy findings
including:
A
real challenge for Canada is
that citizens, especially those
who are a part of the under-30
demographic, do not feel ade-
quately engaged by their civic institutions.
The concern with this reality is that one
of the fundamental pillars of responsible
government, an engaged citizenry, appears
to be disillusioned and disengaged. We are
concerned that democracy is in trouble.
Our idea is “Day-to-Day Democracy”
(D2DD). It was borne out of a conviction
that Canada’s democratic health could be
strengthened if governments gave citizens
real feedback on their consultations re-
garding policy.
To achieve this end, governments can
leverage their current Information Com-
munication Technology (ICT) framework
to begin a constructive and ongoing dia-
logue with their citizens. D2DD is a means
to do more with less while doing so in a
visible way. It is a method to strengthen
the e-consultation process by way of im-
Creating a Real Dialogue
with Citizens:
A Vision of “Day-to-Day”
Democracy
Benjamin
Selinger
Gabriel
Flores