Building Democracy “with” Community
Over the past three decades there has been a fundamental shift in informal social ties, tolerance and trust, political and civic engagement in our communities. Evidence shows that our actual experiences of being involved in a community has been steadily declining since the 1960s. This decline is evident if we look at the Canadian voting rates. We have an average of 63% of Canadians voting in the last 4 elections and in Ontario an average of 52%. Why are 40-50% of the population not voting? Is it lack of trust? Do people feel like they cannot make a difference?
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