Is The United States of America Still A Democracy ???

[WillyT]

:shrug:

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Actually, we are a democratic Republic.

[niceypoo]

13. In the form of a democracy

A broken democracy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. No. But, we still get to vote for whoever the bosses buy.

[socialist_n_TN]

3. We're more like one of those elections in the USSR................

You're able to vote, but you only for the people the Corporation Party puts up.

For now, we still have some of the trappings of a democracy, but in reality, it's gone. It won't be back until they become SCARED of us.

[rucky]

4. In the same way a publicly traded Fortune 500 company is one.

[Exilednight]

5. We've turned into a plutocracy. By the poor for the

wealthy should be our new slogan.

[RKP5637]

11. Exactly! We are the definition of a plutocracy! n/t

[Occam Bandage]

6. Apparently DU believes democracies cease to be such when the people disagree with you.

[polmaven]

17. You right on that!

Amazing, isn't it?

[sabrina 1]

29. You mean when the government doesn't agree with the people.

And doesn't listen to the people, and when the people's representatives are funded by big business and owe their allegience to those who fund them.

Or when the government engages in war crimes and violates the Geneva Conventions and fails to hold those responsible for the slaughter, accountable.

And when the government cares more about Wall St. and hands over trillions of tax dollars to Big Banks, while letting the people whose money they stole, starve.

DU thinks that when the people are more afraid of the government than the government is of the people, you don't have a democracy. Someone famous historical figure said that and I think he knew a lot more democracy than you do, no offense.

[Occam Bandage]

30. Democracy is not a guarantee that politicians will listen to people.

If they do not, the burden is on the people to vote them out of office. The people's failure to vote in politicians who agree with them is not indicative of the United States not being a democracy; it is indicative of the United States having a populace that does not seriously engage in its democratic responsibilities.

War crimes have nothing to do with democracy. Democracies can engage in wholesale slaughter; dictatorships can be peaceful. It so happens that democracies, being stable, tend to be more peaceful than dictatorships. That is only a general a symptom of political systems, and not an iron-clad causative link.

People electing politicians who favor banking is unfortunate for everyone but the bankers. It also says nothing about any such country not being a democracy. Again, failure of the people to vote in their best interests does not mean democracy does not exist; it means democracy is not being appropriately used.

"Here's a mangled version of an often-repeated quote somebody famous might have said, but I bet whoever said it first was really smart and therefore the quote totally applies to our current situation" = :rofl:

[Cal Carpenter]

7. Still?

Look at the history of this country. Some portion of the population, large or small, based on race, gender, class...has been left out of the decision-making process since the founding. And the decision-making process as it is is manipulated by billions of agenda-driven dollars and decades of propaganda.

So I voted 'no', but if we really want to dig deep and figure out what America is and what democracy is (theoretically) we'd need to take the word 'still' out of your question.

Because for a lot of people it never was and that has a lot to do with where we are now.

[Scurrilous]

8. I voted no.

It was the funniest answer.

[bowens43]

9. we never were and we were never meant to be.......

the right-wingers get this one right more often then we on left do.


“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”
- Benjamin Franklin

[TheKentuckian]

12. A republic is a form of democracy. The people rule in the context of the legal framework.

[RKP5637]

10. I voted but my vote wasn't counted and I got no receipt! n/t

[oldhippie]

14. I don't think we can even agree on what a democracy is .......

..... much less if we have one.

[stray cat]

15. Maybe too much so. A republic might provide intelligent leadership

[WillyT]

16. History Says, "No"...

:shrug:

[H2O Man]

18. No.

[Anakin Skywalker]

19. The United States of America is owned by banksters and fraudsters

[ZombieHorde]

20. What is a democracy? According to the definition from my comparative government class,

we are mostly a democracy.

[HEyHEY]

21. Did you vote for Obama? Did you vote? Yes it's a democracy

[RZM]

22. Yes it is

You can vote for whomever you like -- just because progressives don't run the show doesn't mean it's not a Democracy -- it just means that people aren't voting for your preferred candidates in very large numbers. Saying the US isn't a Democracy is like saying a lemon isn't fruit because you don't like the sour taste.

[Rhythm]

23. We never have been. We are a Constitutionally-mandated Republic

[SDuderstadt]

27. Jesus...

not this shit again.

We are a democracy, alright...just not a direct one. Whether you refer to us as a democratic republic, representative republic or a constitutional republic, those are all forms of indirect democracy.

Arguing that we aren't a form of democracy is like arguing that indirect lighting is not lighting. The Framers wisely
established safeguards and checks and balances to keep the majority from trampling the minority.

[Beacool]

24. 2008 proved to me that it's not.

:shrug:

[WiffenPoof]

25. My Optimism Still makes Me Think That...

....we are a democracy.

-PLA

[treestar]

26. It never was, it was a republic

and it remains one. The Founders would be proud. We still elect our representatives, and the government is turned over each time.

[Pavulon]

28. ameriKKKa , i dont like the calls the people I voted for made

so I will be all butthurt. representative democracy, a good thing.