Peter Stockland on Scotish, Ukrainian, and Canadian democracies.

By Peter Stockland September 19, 2014

0 minute read

When both sides in the Scottish referendum vote praise the contest as democracy’s finest hour, something is being said about politics that really matters.

All that really needs to be said is being said about the necessity of democratic politics being the default politics for the human condition.

For all its susceptibility to majoritarian overreach and its constant vulnerability to oligarchic manipulation, the enduring strength of democratic politics is its delivery of the disciplined humility that all human beings need.

You'll also enjoy...

Facing the Root of Racism

It's human failure that allows racism to run rampant in Canada, writes Peter Stockland, and it's human atonement—rather than erasure—that can build a better future.

Carry On Questioning

Today Publisher Peter Stockland reflects on the importance of asking honest, essential questions about democratic life.

This is Ultra-Tolerance

What struck me in contrasting that long ago episode with Eddie's response was not the juxtaposition of strength against weakness but the difference in the vocabulary available then to my mother, an ordinary citizen, and now even to an advice columnist in Canada's national newspaper Rather than upbra...