Citizens

Extract

Citizens, Elisabeth Gidengil, André Blais, Neil Nevitte and Richard Nadeau, Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2004, pp. vii, 214.

Citizens is one volume in a series designed to evaluate the democratic performance of the institutions and practices affecting public decision-making in Canada. The Canadian Democratic Audit (CDA) is based on the premise that declining levels of public confidence in those institutions and anemic participation rates in political and community life dictate the need for a performance review. In Citizens, the state of democratic citizenship is evaluated according to levels of public involvement in civic and political activities, the extent to which these participatory opportunities represent social diversity, and the potential for these activities to reflect the collective interests of all Canadians. The volume also assesses reform proposals to improve public participation, inclusiveness and responsiveness.