Do we get the government we deserve?

“If we do not vote, we certainly get the government we deserve and not voting impacts everyone.” — D. Mahoney

“There are rules and procedures in place for voting that have served us well. There seems to be ample quantity of candidates but quality seems to be lacking. The MAJOR negative is that elected officials can be elected without the majority vote. In the municipality where I live, three councillors and the Mayor did not achieve 50 percent plus one of the voters who voted. One councillor was elected with less than 30 percent of the voter support. I feel this must change so that all our elected officials are representative of the majority.” — S. Wellwood

“I don’t think this is a valid question. The governments we have, at all levels, are voted in through an electoral system. As a society, we should always strive for better for everyone, not what we “deserve.” Our job as residents and citizens is to hold government accountable, regardless of whether we deserve one government over the other.” — A. Lai

“Yes, we get the government we vote for.” — O. Menendez

“To a degree. Special interests and lobbyists bend governments away from voters.” — T. Volk

“To your headline question, I think the answer is yes, we get what we deserve. In a more thoughtful way, I think we NEED and deserve MUCH better. I believe the electorate is inadequately informed and inadequately motivated to GET informed. I believe that the media can and should do a much better job of informing the public about our democracy, its fragility, its threats, its “players”, elections... the whole gamut. Additionally, I am not in favour of mandatory voting. I believe it can lead to unintended ill-informed (populist) outcomes and the buying of votes.” — I. Murray