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2024: Maximum Democracy or Learning to love the public

The John Meisel Lecture Series in Contemporary Political Controversies Sixth Annual Lecture

Maximum Democracy or Learning to love the public

Peter MacLeod

Founder and Principal, MASS LBP 

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Lecture 4:00-5:30pm

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202

Light refreshments served

����ֱ�� the lecture:

It’s easy to feel skeptical about democracy. It’s even easier to be skeptical about the public. But in this year’s Meisel lecture, Peter MacLeod makes the case for why much of the dysfunction and polarization within western democracies can only be undone when we fundamentally change our relationship with the public. As he argues, it’s not that people are impossibly divided or disinterested in politics, it’s that we fail to tap into the capability of citizens to create public value or play an expanded role in the work of governing. Democratic norms should not be taken for granted and recent domestic and global events demonstrate why they must be regenerated. In response to this challenge, MacLeod describes an audacious vision that seeks to re-energize politics by dramatically expanding the public’s role in the next chapter of our democratic evolution.

����ֱ�� the speaker:

Peter MacLeod is the principal of MASS LBP and one of Canada’s leading experts in public engagement and deliberative democracy. Since its founding in 2007, MASS has completed more than 250 major policy projects for governments and public agencies across Canada while popularizing the use of Civic Lotteries and Citizens’ Assemblies, and earning international recognition for its work.

He writes and speaks frequently about the citizen’s experience of the state, the importance of public imagination, and the future of responsible government.

He and Richard Johnson are also the authors of the forthcoming book, “Democracy’s Second Act” which will be published next year. Find him on Twitter @petermacleod and at .

The Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity Research Fellows Present:

Debra Thompson - Good Family Visiting Faculty Research Fellow & Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies | McGill University

"What do we mean by 'systemic racism' in Canada? [A work-in-progress talk]" 

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 

2:30-4:00 PM

Kingston Hall | Room 101  **please note the change of location

The Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity (CSDD) is pleased to announce that Dr. Debra Thompson, an Associate Professor of Political Science and a Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies at McGill University, is a Good Family Visiting Faculty Research Fellow with the CSDD during the 2024–25 academic year!

To begin her Fellowship, Dr. Thompson will give a talk titled “What do we mean by ‘systemic racism’ in Canada? (A work-in-progress talk)”, as part of the CSDD’s ‘Research Fellows Present’ series. 

The October Political Studies Departmental Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. in Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202.

An agenda will be shared a few days prior to the meeting. This meeting is open to department members only: faculty, staff, adjuncts, post doctoral fellows, and student representatives.

The Corry Colloquium Speaker Series of the Department of Political Studies presents:

Patricia Mockler - Western University | ����ֱ�� (CORA)

"Political Participation and the COVID-19 Pandemic" 

Thursday, September 19, 2024 

2:30-4:00 PM

Robert Sutherland Hall | Room 334

Light refreshments served

Abstract:

This project explores the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for women’s political participation in Canada. Drawing on data from the Canadian Election Study’s Democracy Checkup surveys, we examine how women’s participation evolved with the introduction of public health measures to manage the spread of the virus. The disruptions caused by the COVID -19 pandemic changed the availability of important resources that are precursors to political participation; time, money, and access to opportunities for political socialization became scarcer. These disruptions were not distributed equally across sociodemographic groups but instead have been structured by the politics of gender and have been most pronounced for those citizens who were less likely to participate in politics before the pandemic (Johnston et al. 2020, Baiden et al. 2022, Davison et al. 2020, Tolley 2019). This presentation probes the impacts of these changes for gender gaps in political participation and specifically considers the experiences of racialized women and mothers.

 

Bio:

Patricia Mockler is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Canadian Opinion Research Archive at Queen’s University and Western University. Her research examines political participation, deliberative democracy and democratic innovations. She is especially interested in heterogeneity in political participation in the Canadian context, with an emphasis on non-electoral forms of participation. She has published manuscripts examining inclusion in democratic innovations, election fundraising, and the defining features of deliberative mini-publics. 

Orientation for PhD and MA students entering the Department of Political Studies.

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 334

Time:  TBD

The September Political Studies Departmental Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 12, 2024, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. in Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Room E202.

A calendar invitation will be sent once a location is determined, and an agenda will be shared a few days prior to the meeting. 

2024 Department of Political Studies Graduate Student Welcome Reception

The Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University invites all current and incoming POLS graduate students, as well as faculty members and instructors, to attend the 2024 Graduate Student Welcome Reception! 

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

4:30-6:00 PM

The University Club | 168 Stuart Street, Kingston

:: Cash bar and light refreshments served ::

Please RSVP via the calendar invitations sent in July and August!