Two Party political systems

[Jyn]

Originally posted by Snrrub
I would hope that all the definitions I use are modern ones, because I communicate with modern people - not people from hundreds of years ago. You should probably adopt modern definitions of words, too, lest people misunderstand everything you say.

There is a problem with the popular redefinition of the word 'democracy.' People seem to be using in place of republic now, when the two words have never been interchangeable in the past. You can't take the Declaration or the Constitution and replace republic with democracy everywhere the word is found. The original wording will always use the definitions from the time period. So, the problem with changing the definition in this particular way is obvious and potentially dangerous.

The average person who reads either of those documents is not going to know what a republic is in relation to a democracy. The average person who reads any of those quotes from the founding fathers is going to be very confused. "Wait, our founding fathers hated democracy? Why did they make one, then?" Except they didn't.

The distinction between republic and democracy is something that needs to be maintained. People can't keep having the word democracy shoved down their throats like you can't get enough of it. Yes, the power of the people in general is a good thing, but the people need to be reminded that the will of the majority needs to be tempered. Without that reminder, we simply have mob mentality (51% of the population agree with me, that means I must be right in doing whatever I'm doing). That is the kind of attitude the founders spent as much time trying and planning to avoid as they did tyranny. The power of the people needs to be balanced as much as the power of the government if the country is to avoid slipping toward tyranny on one end or anarchy on the other, but that mentality just isn't something you see instilled in the population along with their daily dose of democracy.

[Rosuav]

Originally posted by Snrrub
I think you're entirely forgetting about every member of congress and every senator, and every governor, and every mayor, and the state legislatures, and judges, and school boards, and so on.

You may note I specifically said in my post that I was talking only about federal government. Yes, a US citizen has the right to elect the school board, the dog-catcher, and the garbage collector, but that has nothing to do with whether or not the USA goes to war against Iraq, or builds a new cyclotron, or allows Australian tourists to enter the country without the hassle of a visa.

Originally posted by Marah
Wrong, as we also have the House of Representatives and the Senate at the Federal level. Out of the three branches of Federal government, the people are in charge of electing two.

How do those work? I never hear about their powers in the public press; do they have the power to modify/block bills? If so, and if they're directly elected by the people, then yes, the people do have another line of power.

The point still stands, though, that the people don't rule the country, they only have the power to choose who does, and from a pretty small set of options (given that, for the most part, it only matters what party you're voting for). That's not democracy.

And as Jyn pointed out, pure democracy is a bad thing, as well as being completely impractical.

[Marah]

Originally posted by Rosuav
How do those work? I never hear about their powers in the public press; do they have the power to modify/block bills? If so, and if they're directly elected by the people, then yes, the people do have another line of power.

Congress is VERY powerful and what's scary is that, like you, most people seem to think it's who's President that's important.

The US Congress makes the laws. Granted, the President can override them but Congress, in turn, can override his veto. They have the power to declare war as well. If you want to know more, google!

[Jyn]

Originally posted by Marah
Congress is VERY powerful and what's scary is that, like you, most people seem to think it's who's President that's important.

The US Congress makes the laws. Granted, the President can override them but Congress, in turn, can override his veto. They have the power to declare war as well. If you want to know more, google!

Also take into account that the President is often someone from Congress. Whenever a President elected from one party has a Congress controlled by people from the same party, I consider it a scary time for the country. You may as well be removing an entire segment of the checks and balances. We can only hope the Court does its job with integrity at that point.

Edit:
Getting the thread back on track, the above could be seen as a huge con for our 2 party system. The 2 sides create a huge illusion of competition to the point where you're expected to conform to every party belief and vote down the lines. It's either us or them, and if you don't fit, you're made to fit. If you still won't fit, you're ostracized.