American democracy?

Question

If America is a democracy and its citizens support democracy as I am assured they do, then how can they tolerate a President who did not win the Presidential election but apparently came second . Is that democracy ?, sounds more like dictatorship. Stand up Americans for true democracy.

Answer 1

As I understand it, the declaration of the name of the person elected President was made bythe appropriate US college.

That makes the result official, and whether it should be someone else is pretty academic.

That has very little to do with democracy, which is nothing more than: choosing a government of the people from the people who are to be governed by it.

The extension that a "democratic" government can tell the rest of the world how it is to behave, and who they should be governed by, is more to do with having big muscles, than being democratic, but "democratic" is a GOOD word to use frequently in public speeches, as it persuades the listener that somehow the speaker is acting in accordance with a set of principles which are outside his control, but somehow correct, so he can appear blameless of any consequences.

I thought that USA was not so much a democracy, but rather a corporate controlled society? If it is good for Ford, so it must be good for America was (and is) the refrain, surely?

. ethat

Answer 2

I hate to break it to you, but "democracy" is an ideal that can mean different things to different people, and does not actually exist in a clearly defined way. The ruling force, not just in th US but on the PLANET, is money. Rich people rule the world. It doesnt matter if its under the guise of a dictatorship or a democracy, the "little people" dont count for crap. A third of the world have NO CLEAN WATER. Thats more than two billion people. And if you took a fraction of the wealth of 1% of the worlds richest, only a tiny bit, allowing them to stay filthy rich even, we could solve that, as a PLANET. Thats the biggest problem in the world. Our bodies are made of 70% water. Screw aids, and malaria, and crime and such, how about getting those people a drink? Do you suppose most Americans, given the chance, would support a law that required these rich pieces of crap to surrender a bit of cash to do this? And not just crooked politicians, but all of them, mr and mrs jolie, oprah, mr trump, etc. How about a law that says you can only have 10 million dollars(surely, thats enough for anyone), then the rest goes for water, food and education for third world countries(not to mention the dirt poor americans) I think most Americans would find that fair, a good idea. Therein lies the problem. Most politicians are rich or wealthy themselves. And the higher up they are, the more cash they have. And they dont wanna give up a penny. Because money=power and power=more money. So you see, how democracy could never really work. Not unless we're either ALL rich or ALL poor. Mr. Bush managed to steal the election because he had money and power. Not that that explains why he clearly won the second term.

Answer 3

The USA is not a democracy, it is a republic. The difference is important. No true democracy can be a workable form of government, because there would exist no mechanism to protect the rights of minorities against usurpation by the majority. The current President was elected according to the rules prevailing at the time (and prevailing now, as well).

Answer 4

First of all, the United States is a representative demockracy, not a TRUE democracy. In a real democracy all citizens would be able to vote on every issue (going to war, for example, or allocating money to build a bridge). Instead, we elect representatives who we hope will vote in our best interest. Of course, money and special favors make a joke of this.
As for the presidential election to which you refer, Al Gore clearly won the 2000 election and John Kerry probably won the 2004 election. We are a joke.

Answer 5

The phenomenon you describe is the vote of the electoral college, put into place at the drafting of the US Constitution, designed for the protection of the small states, wherein each state gets a number of votes, and the mojority in each state decides who gets all of the electors for that state. This is how Bush won. Although Gore won the more populous coastal blue states, Bush won flyover country, the red states, which gave him the majority of the electors. It might be unfair, but it's not quite the same as a dictatorship, where there are no elections, such as Cuba. The American people had a chance to oust Bush in '04 but we reelected him instead. Franklin said we get the government we deserve, and I agree.

Answer 6

Huzzah!

Answer 7

Right on baby!

Answer 8

I agree!!