US Election - is it really democratic?

[Rorschach]

Given the scrutiny on the last election in Australia and a more public education/explanation of how the system works, is it really a fair system? Is it truly democratic... or does it disenfranchaise many people who actually voted?

[AiA in Atlanta]

[Rorschach]

meaning?
All young American women are dumb?
Some young American women are dumb?
One young American woman is dumb?
The list is almost endless...

Personally I thought she was treated badly, she did say she was referring to the previous PM in one paper here...

[Neferti]

How DARE the Yanks think that they can just "migrate" to Australia? IDIOTS.


Admittedly, I gather that MOST illegals here are Yanks who came in via plane, saw and decided to stay .... without authority. They don't actually fit in as they can NOT get rid of the accent.

[boxy]

Given the scrutiny on the last election in Australia and a more public education/explanation of how the system works, is it really a fair system? Is it truly democratic... or does it disenfranchaise many people who actually voted?

Not sure if you're referring to US (as the thread title suggests) or Australia (as the actual post suggests), but both are probably well up there in being democratic, compared to others on the world stage. The way the US decides on a President seems well strange, with whole state going either one way or the other, regardless of the fact that close to 50% of them voted the opposite way. But I guess this isn't much different, except for in scale, to our "electorates".

No matter what, someone loses out, and feels disenfranchised. Democracy isn't perfect, it's just the best system we've come up with yet.

[Neferti]

The main problem with the USA is that EACH State has its own legislation. So you can drive from, say Sydney to Canberra (3 hours), and get away with lots of stuff, legally. Australian Law is more National.

[Rorschach]

Tell you what boxy... why don't you link the title of the post to the post and see what you think then.

here I'll do it for you....

US Election - is it really democratic? Given the scrutiny on the last election in Australia and a more public education/explanation of how the system works, is it really a fair system? Is it truly democratic... or does it disenfranchaise many people who actually voted?

or if you like

Given the scrutiny in Australia of the last US election.... etc, etc, etc..

Hope this clears things up for you.

The way the US decides on a President seems well strange, with whole state going either one way or the other, regardless of the fact that close to 50% of them voted the opposite way. But I guess this isn't much different, except for in scale, to our "electorates".

Wow despite the unclear topic and post you managed to hit the heart of the argument. I'd suggest the number of colleges allocated per state is also a bone of contention.

[boxy]

Can't see a combination of voluntary voting, and the electoral college system being a good one. The amount of say that a state has on the outcome should be tied to the number of votes actually cast in that state, rather than population. Or make voting compulsory (as if).

[AiA in Atlanta]

Everyone agrees that the Electoral Vote must go but nothing will be done about it.

[annielaurie]

Can't see a combination of voluntary voting, and the electoral college system being a good one. The amount of say that a state has on the outcome should be tied to the number of votes actually cast in that state, rather than population. Or make voting compulsory (as if).

Yes, I think this sounds about right.