Is this democracy?

[OddBeMe]

Yes

No

[goaded]

There is no perfect system. Unless it's being intentionally undermined, the US system isn't that terrible although the Electoral College gives far too much power to small states, their senators should be enough.

[OddBeMe]

Im not even sure the senate should be there. I get it... its the slowburn to the rats nest of the House. But like parliaments maybe the House would be more repsonsible if there voting was the entire congress.

[goaded]

Britain and Germany, at least, also have upper houses that perform that function. The House of Lords (that contains far fewer lords and bishops than it used to), and the Bundesrat (made up of people sent by the state governments). They perform a useful function as a brake on the excesses of a short term directly elected majority.

Unfortunately in the last couple of decades, Republicans in the US Senate have wedged the brake on permanently with the effortless filibuster. Democrats stupidly seem to think that the only way to get around it is to eliminate it entirely, rather than just, say, insisting that the objecting senator should stand up and talk, on topic, about why they don't want whatever it is for at least a few hours.

Perhaps seeing your senator demonstrating how stupid they are will get them voted out, but since one's read Green Eggs and Ham without understanding the point of the story and another thinks a snowball is proof global warming doesn't exist, I don't hold out much hope.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Sort of... its the special type of USA democracy.

Other countries, where every vote counts (like germany) don't have this stuff.

But in the broader system of how the US voting works its democracy.

[msmissydc]

Well germany is much more direct but we still have the two votes. From which one could theoretically have no impact.

[OddBeMe]

@msmissydc two votes?

[msmissydc]

Yes, we have one vote for a candidate that we vote from our district into the parliament. If the person we voted for gets the majority they have a guaranteed place in the parliament. We also have a second vote for a party. This vote is directly percentage wise from all voters and filles the rest of the parliament. The only exception to that is, that a party needs at least 5% total to be represented in the parliament. Also no we do not vote our chancelor or president directly. But they probably aren't as important as a president in a presidential democracy. Generally the biggest party from the goverment gets the chancelor position and the president is something else entirely.

[OddBeMe]

@msmissydc that makes sense. We combine them because we can't be bothered to vote twice a year. Lol

[OddBeMe]

We get bogged down in stupid assumptions.

Brittanica
"modern representative democracies are by and large republics. The term republic may also be applied to any form of government in which the head of state is not a hereditary monarch."

[Anonymous]

Yes it's democracy that all stares are represented rather than exploited by the east and West coasts.

[SolitarySolace]

That's what democracy is supposed to be. It's not what democrats mean when they say they want to "save democracy." I mean, fucking hell, Harris wasn't even democratically nominated by the American people! And the American people know this! I actually voted in the republican primary for Donald Trump. Did you vote for Harris in the democrat party primary? Oh wait... There wasn't one.

[Anonymous]

Actually it is, because it's not the county itself or country officials deciding the election, but the citizens in those county voting. The US is a constitutional Republic with a representative democracy, and what you're witnessing representative democracy portion of the government. Don't like it? As an American, your free to move to another country or just accept how the government works and move along.

[genericname85]

what? america? no. not a democracy. it doesn't even say that in the constitution at all. it's an indirect oligarchy with indirectly democratically voted representants.

[OddBeMe]

It ks dumbass. You guys just say that because trump hates democracy

[genericname85]

It's a fact. Show me the part of the constitution where it declared that the USA is a democracy. It's not in there.

[OddBeMe]

It has to text it out for morons? See in college we learned about set theory. Subsets of groups.

A republic, parliament etc... is a subset of democracy.

[OddBeMe]

[genericname85]

you really think i'm being the moron here? you think laws applie for things that aren't explicitly stated in that law? legal documents are extremely explicit cause hat's not said in there is not the law. educate yourself son. do better.

[OddBeMe]

So you think democracy is a certain type of government that needs texting?

How's Brittanica dumbass:
modern representative democracies are by and large republics. The term republic may also be applied to any form of government in which the head of state is not a hereditary monarch.

[genericname85]

i'm saying that the foundation that states are build on is the text of the law. and if the text of the law doesn't say that a state is a democratic state, it's not a democratic state. simple as that my man. a country being a "republic" doesn't mean it's a democracy. even china is a republic. you need to learn what words mean before you say that words don't matter.

[Juxtapose]

Yeah America is not a democracy.

act.represent.us/.../usa-oligarchy-research-explained

[OddBeMe]

@Juxtapose commentary. It's allegory, which i agree with. There are ologarchic elements here. But as our dumbass colleague @genericname85 keeps mentioning it's all about the laws and constitution.

And as you are a Federalist papers fan... From Hamilton:
"I think very disputable; unstable democracy, is an epithet frequently in the mouths of politicians; but I believe that from a strict examination of the matter."

[Juxtapose]

Most of the founding fathers actually bashed democracy and had very dim views about it. That's why it's not in the Constitution.

[genericname85]

you're not making yourself sound smart by calling a person who knows more than you a "dumb ass" you can keep doing that but it just reflects negatively on your character. just saying.

and as for your claim that america is actually a democracy: can you name a law or a policy that the people actually decided on by vote? no? then it's not a democracy by the very definition of the word, even if you just wanna ignore what the constitution says, it still doesn't make sense what you're saying.

[OddBeMe]

You should see someone for your dunning Kruger belief. A democracy is a genus and republic is a species. Like the UK is a democracy.

https://youtu.be/P78d-JCmYXI

[Juxtapose]

We are the United States. The small states would have never agreed to become part of America if they would always have their voices drowned out by people who live in cities.

[OddBeMe]

And why does that still matter today? Used to be only land owners could vote. But we changed that

[Juxtapose]

Because we still have states that live a completely different life than people in cities and they don't want their lives dictated by people in cities.

[OddBeMe]

Thats not free country. That's apartheid

[Juxtapose]

LOL what a bunch of horse shit. In a country as big as the United States, different places are going to have different needs. That's why laws such as the age of consent are different depending on what piece of the map you are on. It's not all dictated by the federal government, nor should it be.

[OddBeMe]

Yet small counties have enormous sway over much larger ones. Aparthied

[Juxtapose]

What you want is for a few cities in the United States to dictate how life goes for everyone else. Apartheid.

See? I can play this game too.

[seeyounexttuesday]

You'd have to be a massive idiot to think people voting for their preferred candidate is somehow not "democracy".

[OddBeMe]

Wow howd you miss the point? Its that 8 counties in a country of 350 million will decide the election

[seeyounexttuesday]

Well that’s not an accurate statement. If the other states voted differently those 8 wouldn’t matter. Every election comes down to a handful of areas being the deciding factor.

[OddBeMe]

No actually it wouldn't. You really are this moronic. I thought you were shining me on

[exitseven]

no, it is a Constitutional Republic.

[OddBeMe]

That is a denocracy dummy

[ForevrLonely29]

@OddBeMe

He is right. It is a Constitutional Republic, at least on a federal-level. Electors in each state decide. We have the electoral college. But really, power should mostly be given to thr individual states with the federal government only addressing common defense from foreign enemies and resolving interstate disputes. The feds have become too big. And the feds cannot even fulfill their main purpose, defending our nation from enemies and invaders.

[exitseven]

@ForevrLonely29 Yes, the Federal government has gotten to big. It is run by unelected bureaucrats that hold real positions of power that can make decisions that can effect thousands of people. They are not accountable to anyone and are hard to fire. President Trump enacted Schedule F that strips protections from civil servants. This is long overdue.

[OddBeMe]

And what is a democracy then. Define it.

[exitseven]

A democracy is majority rule.

[OddBeMe]

Sigh... am I the only one with Google?

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

[ForevrLonely29]

Article IV Section 4 of the US Constitution states:
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government"

[noohair]

There is no point engaging on this topic.

[OddBeMe]

Is this the new GaG slogan?