Articles from Canada and the World Backgrounder (January 1, 2004)

Title	Author	Type	Words
"State of nature".			2375
Ancient roots.			916
Breeding cynics: increasingly, voters feel the primary motivation of most politicians is gaining or keeping power, and many are so fed up with the process, and the excesses of government, that they don't even bother going to the polls on election day.			2283
Change agents.			3538
Ethics 101: operations such as Democracy Watch make it their business to try and keep governments and politicians, as well as business institutions, straight.			414
Friends in high places: all around the world, the group with the most access and influence in politics is business. Does this access affect policy? You bet it does.			2085
Looking on the bright side.			1639
P.M. the PM: Paul Martin says he wants to be our prime minister for ten years, and, if he succeeds, he'll be 75 when he leaves power.			2699
Pulling it all together: creating a single party out of the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance Party has left some members of both parties wondering where to turn.			2265
Quote ... Unqoute.			178
Quotes.			455
So, you want to be a politician? Life in politics is not easy; its many negative aspects make it tough to find high-quality candidates.			1911
Spotlighting the dark side; are politicians more likely to misbehave than people in other walks of life? Probably not, but that doesn't make it okay, and it's usually front-page news.			859
The moderate middle.			1955
Which end of the political spectrum are you?			543