Introduction to Social Sciences: Political Science Assignment

This political science assignment examines Canadian healthcare, focusing on issues such as mental health funding, prescription drug costs, and the overall healthcare system. The student reflects on why they selected this topic, connecting it to personal experiences with anxiety and the importance of accessible mental healthcare. The assignment explores which Canadian political party best aligns with the student's views, considering the implications of healthcare issues on society and proposing a policy for increased mental health funding. The analysis further delves into the relationship between healthcare and democracy, addressing the role of protests and the impact of media coverage on political issues, particularly how it reflects inequality. Finally, the assignment concludes by explaining the relevance of social sciences to the student's life, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and understanding human behavior within society.

Running Head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Name
Institutional Affiliation

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1. Consider the item that you selected for this assignment and the discussion. Why did
you pick it? What appealed to you about this? Sometimes we pick items because
they reflect our own experiences, or it ignites a sense of (in) justice etc. Reflect on
your reasons for selecting this item (beyond simply being interested dig deeper – why
is interesting to you?) How does this reflect your views? Your experiences?
Ans: Social issue is a thing people care about, and anything which is a need of
people of particular society is a political issue as well. For example, civil rights, poverty,
inequality, immigration etc. All these issues are both social issue and national political
interest. The issue I have selected for this assignment is the health care issue in our
country. Although Canada’s healthcare system is one of the best in all over the world
(Simpson et al., 2018) but still it was a hot issue of 2019 and public raise many questions
related to health care on which Canadian government need to work like prescription drugs,
Mental health issue, healthcare funding and some more (The Most Popular Healthcare
Issues of 2019, n.d.), this triggers my mind to select this issue as health is the most
important thing for any living being. Other than that, I feel like health is the most essential
need of public in any country and recently there is a lot of debate on mental health issues
and the preventions to reduce them. (The Most Popular Healthcare Issues of 2019, n.d.).
The mental health issue is something anyone can face at any stage of life. I suffer from
anxiety, stress and panic attack sometimes at that moment I really want to consult someone
who is easily accessible, give me proper treatment and help me out from such situation.
There is a debate about increasing funding for healthcare with a strong emphasis on
increasing mental health funding (The Most Popular Healthcare Issues of 2019, n.d.). I
support this, and I really feel the mental health issue needs more attention.

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2. What Canadian political party would best support your personal view about this
topic?
Ans: As I have explained above that Canada is a country which is best in Healthcare
system as compared to other countries (Simpson et al., 2018), but it still needs more and
more improvement to serve citizen in a better way. The issues I have selected from
healthcare is availability of prescribed drugs on low costs and increase in funding for
mental health treatment and research. (The Most Popular Healthcare Issues of 2019,
n.d.)I have found that every political party in Canada talks about improving health care
system by increasing funding but as such no political party have taken a proper step or
made any policy for an increase in funding for health care and easy availability of
prescribed drugs on low cost. Liberals, NDP and Green Party, have committed to
renegotiating about the health funding formula but did not announce anything about it.
Whereas, conservative party during their government have announced a plan to cut 36
billion dollars from health funding, but they didn’t show any initiative for national drugs
plan.
3. Consider the implications and impact of your issue on society. If you were
responsible for creating a law (or public policy) to address or solve your issue, what
would it be?
Ans: I think the Healthcare system and policies need to improve and amend frequently
according to the need of the general public of any country. My focus is on the increase in
funding for mental health research and treatment for the betterment of common public and
the easy availability of prescribed drugs on low cost (The Most Popular Healthcare Issues
of 2019, n.d.). If I would be able to make a policy or develop any law related to healthcare
issue, then I would like to increase funding for mental health treatment and if possible I
would prefer a free treatment for mental health issues because it is the need of an hour to

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provide as much easily available treatment as we can to mental health patients. A person
with mental health problem is not only affecting his/herself but also dangerous for society
as we can see many incidents of a mental health patient attacking general public like a
recent case of a person who is mentally retarded attacked on the mosque in New Zealand
and killed around fifty people (Walden, 2019). Many patients having any kind of mental
health issue ignores treatment because they don't have the budget to access a good
treatment or sometimes some issues need more attention and no proper diagnosis is there.
Such kinds of patients become violent and dangerous for society as well as for their own
selves. This is the reason I think policies related to increasing funding for a mental health
issue is a need.
4. How does your issue relate to democracy? Be sure to address democracy as both a
process and a value.
Ans: The rule of people made by the people and for the betterment of people is
democracy. Democracy is the name of providing equal benefits to all citizens by fulfilling
their basic needs. It is a process of amending and improving policies to fulfill the basic
needs of citizens according to the situation. I have mentioned in the above answer that
Canada has the best healthcare system but there is always a need of improvement.
Improvement is a part of democratic process, like if the need of public is to get mental
health treatment more easily accessible than any democratic party or government has to
focus on this if they want public support (Fstovall, 2014). Democracy is a value because
every citizen wants a government who listens and solves their issue. If the government is
lacking this quality, then they are losing democratic value (Is Democracy a Universal
Value?, 2014). Health is essential for any living being, so it is the liability of any
government to facilitate its citizens with the best possible policies.

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5. Often political (and social) science issues create a public outcry in the form of protests
or demonstrations (Police shootings, The Occupy Movement for example).
Sometimes these protests turn violent. Are violent protests a symbol of democracy or
a criminal act? Do you think protests (violent or peaceful) are effective? Explain.
Ans: Violence and violent act are never entertained in any society, country or state in any
era, so I think it is purely a criminal act and not a democracy because democracy is about
providing equal benefits to all (Is Democracy a Universal Value?, 2014) but if some
people are harming other citizens on the name of protest just to get their demands to
fulfill then they are not democratic they are only violent. Only a peaceful protest is a
depiction of a democratic and peaceful society. Peaceful protest brings revolution and
change in many countries like we have an example of Turkey, Libya and the recent
example of Pakistan when a new party brought change in the country by a peaceful
protest of 126 days and become a reason of downfall of two biggest political parties of
that country (Roberts, 2017).
6. Consider how the media impacts the coverage of political science issues (and news
items in general) what influence does the media have over coverage? (i.e. what gets
attention, what doesn’t? how does social media contribute?) Explain how media news
coverage can reflect inequality.
Ans: Media and Social Media are like a global power now. Anything which gets hyped on
media and social media becomes the talk of the town and the most important issue.
Whereas the issue on which media pays no interest gets no attention no matter how much
important it was, Media only focuses on those issues and highlight them which help them
in earning more money and ignore such issues which are not glamourized and helpful in
making money. In this way, I think the media reflects inequality (Fair press, 2016).

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7. Using your understanding of the concepts covered throughout the course, (inequality,
social class, economics, sociological imagination, social control, democracy etc.)
explain how you think the social sciences are relevant to your life. You can explain
how social sciences impact life as a student, family member, friend, worker etc. Why
is an understanding of social sciences valuable?
Ans: Social Sciences are all about our daily life. Social sciences reject those ideas which
are baseless and raise questions about the existence of each and everything in a society to
find out the facts. I think social sciences is the most valuable subject because it makes us
to think critically about anything surround us and to ask reasons which help us to know
about us in a better way. Social sciences focuses on everything which relates to the
human being that's why I think it has a huge impact on our life as a teacher, a student a
friend anything. August Comte said that foolish is a person who studies everything
around him but doesn't study himself and social sciences is a subject which helps us to
know about ourselves as a human in relation with society (Crossman, 2019).

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References:
Crossman, A. (2019, January 26). Auguste Comte and His Role in the History of Sociology.
Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.thoughtco.com/auguste-comte-3026485
Fairpress. (2016, August 22). The role of the media and its impact on society and individuals
is huge, thus, media representatives must, by all means, accept the responsibility for
everything they present to the public. Retrieved April 10, 2019, from
http://www.fairpress.eu/blog/2016/08/22/the-role-of-the-media-and-its-impact-on-
society-and-individuals-is-huge-thus-media-representatives-must-by-all-means-
accept-the-responsibility-for-everything-they-present-to-the-public/
Fstovall. (2014, April 21). Democracy is a process, not an event. Retrieved April 10, 2019,
from https://www.ndi.org/democracy-is-a-process
Is Democracy a Universal Value? (2014, May 25). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from
https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/democracy-universal-value
Roberts, R. (2017, July 10). Thousands gather in Istanbul to protest against President
Erdogan following 'justice march'. Retrieved April 10, 2019, from
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thousands-of-protesters-gather-
istanbul-protest-turkey-president-erdogan-a7832446.html
Simpson, C., Walker, D. M., Drummond, D., Sinclair, D., Wilson, R., & Health Services and
Policy Research. (2018, October 30). How healthy is the Canadian health-care
system? Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://theconversation.com/how-healthy-is-
the-canadian-health-care-system-82674
The Most Popular Healthcare Issues of 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from
https://canada.isidewith.com/polls/healthcare

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Walden, M. (2019, March 18). New Zealand mosque attacks: Who is Brenton Tarrant?
Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/zealand-
mosque-attacks-brenton-tarrant-190316093149803.html