Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattks
Please don't try to make your own definition of words, Democracy does not mean that. You are simply going to confuse people and create misunderstanding.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
Political parties are private organizations, they are not government organizations. They can select who they want how they want. Super delegates are only used by the Democratic Party in the presidential election and even then it has never decided a candidate. I don't agree with the usage of superdelegates either, but using that as a reason or your main reason is silly.
You are also completely ignoring all the local, state, federal, judges, mayors, police chiefs, treasurers, and the enormous amount of other public offices in which people get elected. Many of those offices are non-partisan, meaning they don't allow political party influence as well. Many of those races will have 3-5 candidates.
I personally would like to see our laws amended so allow more multiparty elections, but that doesn't mean we are semi-democratic. The various political factions have to unite under 1 party. They call the Republican Party the big tent party for a reason. There are moderates, conservatives, libertarians, and even a few liberals, many times they work together, but not always. |
I don't disagree on that. I am not saying the US is not a democratic country. I am saying it is not as democratic as it appears.
France is having its election now and it is very clear France's presidential election policy is a lot more democratic than America's. If you are not familiar with it, you can check it out. They banned corporate donation and even in the public debate each candidate is given exactly the same time to talk. They will also have 11 candidates in the first round of general eletion.
Of course one can say “each country has different systems" but that is not the point and is avoiding the issue. The point is the superdelegates and super PACs give certain people and certain organizations disproportionate voice just because they have high status and more money. To a large extent, it violates the first principle established under the declaration of independence. The point is the two party system can no longer represent democratic spirite the Americans want, considering the election is more and more about which candidates I hate more. For a country as large and diverse as the US, two party is simply not enough to represent people's different views. How is Trump a republican? well, because if he is not, he has no chance to be elected.
And yes the US has a lot more democracy on a state, municipal level, that's true.
Yes, within the party itself there are different voice - I am afraid although that's true, it is weak argument. There are more and more different and competing voices (conservative, liberal) among the CPP now, but we don't consider it democratic. It is still an authoritarian regime. The US' two party system worked well in the past, and is undoutedly far more democratic than China, but it is far from being one of the best political system.
For China itself, I think it will follow what happened to Taiwan. There is no chance new political party will arise and compete with the CCP - that's just western wishful thinking. More likely the CCP itself will split into different camps and eventually different parties, and more democracy will happen, but not before 2030 when the country is a lot wealthier.
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