Canadians are in the midst of their longest period of substantial democracy in recent history—and it's a period that might keep rolling even after the conclusion of the federal election.

The exceptionally long election, far from having a foregone conclusion, has put into play seats in almost every part of the country. From Conservative Minister Gail Shea's riding in PEI to Liberal seats in BC and NDP footholds on the island of Montreal, everything is in flux.

That the results of this campaign are far from written in stone—and that we all have a role in shaping them—is further hammered home by recent memory of democratic sea change from coast to coast.

In Quebec in the 2011 federal election, longstanding Bloc Quebecois incumbents were unambiguously sacked by their electors in favour of a troop of young New Democrats. This year, a similar story played out provincially in Alberta, where the Jim Prentice Progressive Conservatives, supposedly with the campaign on lock, were electorally extinguished, unambiguously ending a 44-year-old regime.

Over the weeks and months of a tight race like this one, democracy becomes vibrant and political engagement appealing. Why not donate to a particular party—they could win with your help. Why not get involved with your local candidate—a huge number of seats are up for grabs, with dozens of close races from 2011 bound to be close again and up to 97 ridings lacking incumbents. Why not show up at a partisan rally and have your voice heard—your act of protest or support could shape the electoral prospects of a candidate or leader.

And maybe most of all: why not vote—every vote, even in our first-past-the-post electoral system, feels like it might count this time around and might even determine what turn we take as a nation.

But this substantial quality of democracy today—the sense that ordinary Canadians as a whole have a role in determining the country's direction—might not evaporate with the closing of the polls on October 19th.

While a typical election night ends with the major news networks "calling" the contest as well as victory and concession speeches from party leaders, we might be looking at something far less conclusive or democratically terminal in this year's race.

With both NDP and Liberals promising not to support a Conservative minority—not “a snowball's chance in hell,” in Thomas Mulcair's words—the period of substantial democracy may roll on.

At issue could be the legitimacy of coalition government, an executive configuration not at all foreign to our parliamentary and constitutional system but still untested and ambiguous in the minds of swaths of the public.

And while Liberal and NDP partisans are unwilling to talk coalition in the midst of today's out-and-out race for the most seats, the right conditions in the post-election dawn could very well result in just such deliberations. While Tom Mulcair of the NDP has publicly flirted with the idea, Green Party leader Elizabeth May has been unambiguous in her endorsement of the proposal, positioning herself to help make it happen if the right parliamentary conditions arise.

But should this debate about tenability and legitimacy of coalitions play out for Canadians, it will be no distant teledrama; we'll all play our parts. It is in large part the reaction of ordinary people to the idea of coalition government that will shape the conversation, either rendering it plausible and legitimate or sealing its fate—at least for now—as an uncanadian way to govern.

When Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois came together in 2008 in an effort to topple the Harper government and form a coalition, the Conservatives waged a spontaneous and successful air war, demonizing coalition government as illegitimate, as a concoction of socialists and separatists bent on tearing apart the country.

Of Harper's coalition-evading prorogation of 2008, then-Conservative Transportation Minister John Baird said "I think what we want to do is basically take a time out and go over the heads of the members of Parliament, go over the heads, frankly, of the Governor General, go right to the Canadian people ... We live in a democracy. [The Canadian people] are the ones that rule. They're speaking up loudly."

If this post-election period sees a rhetorical and popular rematch between pro-coalitionists and anti-coalitionists, Canadians will have their own feelings about the legitimacy of coalitions, whether properly solicited or not, invoked by parties on all sides of the debate. Rather than lie down and have opinions ascribed to them, such a debate might spur Canadians to speak for themselves, demonstrating their own vision for the governance of this country beyond the writ period.

Present period excepted, it is clear that our expectations for democracy have fallen exceedingly low.

Incumbent governments of all flavours routinely spew populist rhetoric, touting their "strong mandates"—the same mandates handed to them by 35 or 40 percent of the slim voting population.

Meanwhile, institutional traditionalists and slavish defenders of the status quo never tire of arguing that Canadians always enjoy substantial democracy, in that they are consistently represented by members of Parliament and members of provincial legislative assemblies who are holding the government to account at every moment. But the iron fist of party leadership, both at the provincial level and embodied in most incarnations of the prime minister's office since the 1970s, have smashed this theoretical nicety into the patently untenable. If individual members of legislature are unable or unwilling to keep their corresponding executives in check, in what sense do we have responsible government?

So while our current political culture offers little inspiration, this election period should act as a reminder for Canadians of what real moments of collective deliberation and decision can feel like—and maybe also a reminder that democracy need not lurch to a halt when your ballot is cast.

In the end, we might find that Harper's long election, touted by many as undemocratic, will have an ironic result: a country with a new taste—perhaps even a hunger—for real democracy.

Mark Dance is a former non-partisan parliamentary intern, currently studying law at McGill.  Follow him on Twitter @MarkDance88