This Is How Democracies Die

[Belsnickel]

(01-25-2018, 11:05 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Ok then let me ask. Since they laid this at the feet of Trump and Republicans, let’s say 3 years from now Trump is gone, and a middle of the road traditional person replaces him. Presumably s Democrat. And also by then the Dems have at least one house. Are we good? If not why?

While they were heavy on the current situation because it is pretty egregious, they do point out that this polarization is a problem, that this is long going. To answer your question, though, no, we would not be good.

Let's look at the standards of Dahl for my reasons:

1. Effective participation - At all levels of government, we fall behind in this. Not only are voting turnouts, the primary avenue of our participation abysmally low, but how effective are our votes? How much do we participate by going to town halls, speaking with our officials, etc.? The answer is that we are terrible at it with the exception of some major reason. We don't participate much and it doesn't do much good. Been this way for decades.

2. Voting equality - Between gerrymandering the districts and the electoral college, votes are not counted equally. Period. The first-past-the-post system, where plurality rules, and districts with only one possible winner results in votes being discounted much more than people realize. There are much more free and fair ways to do elections.

3. Control of the agenda - Only partially do we have any of this. But we all know that the politicians we elect ignore us completely after they get our votes. Look at what they have done just this past year, the unpopular legislation they have passed.

4. Inclusion of adults - Is every adult able to participate? Is even every citizen? There are people being disenfranchised all over this country that should be allowed to vote.

So, my answer is no because the problems with our democracy are systemic, and they are long term. Democrats have not shown any motivation to make real strides in resolving these issues.

(01-26-2018, 08:42 AM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: Democracy dies because Democracy is nothing more than "Mob Rule" and thank God we don't live in a Democracy but instead we live in a Constitutional Republic where the rule of law stands supreme.

I know everyone here knows this and the Opinion Piece in the OP is nothing but wishful thinking and fear mongering...that seems to be working, lol.

Do you have any evidence to support a contrary claim, or should we just take your word over two experts on democratization who have been studying the rise and fall of democracies around the world?

Also, it is generally accepted in common language that the United States, and other representative democracies, are considered to be democracies or democratic societies. Being pedantic like this is juvenile.