Is The Usa A Democracy?

[ardillacid]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1224225' date='Mar 31 2007, 02:09 PM']I agree with HSmom, this thread has gotten way off topic.

I'm certain that Citizen X isn't a child of fallen angels in the flesh, since angels can't become incarnate.

Anyway, no more continuation of this topic. I don't see any way it could continue any further without becoming hurting others.

God bless,

Micah[/quote]
So strange you would defend Citizen X...

almost like you two are linked.

[MithLuin]

The US is a representative democracy, not a direct one. So, yes, we aren't Athens, where all the adult free men get to vote anonymously on questions. Rather, all the adult citizens get to vote on who will represent them in govt, and the representatives vote on questions of law.

While it is certainly true that not [i]anyone[/i] can become president (there's lots of politics there), we do have a system that allows people to participate in the process of nominating condidates.

And yes, I realize that this thread never really got around to discussing this question but went off the deep end fairly quickly. In real life, I kill jokes by taking them seriously. I'm no fun at parties.

[Lounge Daddy]

[quote name='notardillacid' post='1794873' date='Mar 2 2009, 01:19 AM']So strange you would defend Citizen X...

almost like you two are linked.[/quote]

So strange that someone would dig up a thread from two years ago and just continue a conversation on it. What kind of weirdo does that?

[ardillacid]

[quote name='Lounge Daddy' post='1794988' date='Mar 2 2009, 09:23 AM']So strange that someone would dig up a thread from two years ago and just continue a conversation on it. What kind of weirdo does that?[/quote]
Don't look at me, someone bumped it by voting

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='notardillacid' post='1801261' date='Mar 9 2009, 09:10 AM']Don't look at me, someone bumped it by voting [/quote]

Oh, the irony...

[Lounge Daddy]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1801265' date='Mar 9 2009, 09:24 AM']Oh, the irony...[/quote]
haha! That's a great observation.

[Matthew91]

wow this thread has gone off topic. lawl. Well to answer the question, yes the USA is a democracy. the USA has a representative government which is an indirect democracy.'
Not a direct democracy as many want, but a republic.

Edited March 10, 2009 by Matthew91

[Lounge Daddy]

[quote name='Matthew91' post='1802153' date='Mar 9 2009, 10:48 PM']wow this thread has gone off topic. lawl. Well to answer the question, yes the USA is a democracy. the USA has a representative government which is an indirect democracy.'
Not a direct democracy as many want, but a republic.[/quote]

That's good, because that is what our Founders intended. I recall reading that Benjamin Franklin stated that they created "[i]a representative government which is an indirect democracy[/i]... if you can keep it."

And the U.S. Constitution clearly states that the U.S. "shall guarantee to every State in this Union a [i]representative government which is an indirect democracy.[/i]"

And the Federalist Papers shows that our Founding Fathers, Hamilton in particular, agreed with Plato and Locke and others, that a [i]representative government which is an indirect democracy[/i] was preferable.

And here I thought that our Founding Fathers set forth a Republic.

[Lounge Daddy]

Sorry if that came off as snide.

...although there was a time when the debate board was known for snide snarky and hostile comments. Those were the days. * sigh *

[Matthew91]

I didn't notice any snideness lounge daddy. I think the representative democracy is better than a direct one, for alot of reasons the founders did. one being that the average joes of america go through mood swings and their views change often, you cant run a government that is constantly shifting. This is the same reason the electoral college was put into the constitution and the same reason why senators were originally appointed by the state legislators and not by direct election.

[Lounge Daddy]

[quote name='Matthew91' post='1802808' date='Mar 10 2009, 03:56 PM']I didn't notice any snideness lounge daddy.[/quote]

Oh good.

[quote name='Matthew91' post='1802808' date='Mar 10 2009, 03:56 PM']I didn't notice any snideness lounge daddy. I think the representative democracy is better than a direct one, for alot of reasons the founders did. one being that the average joes of america go through mood swings and their views change often, you cant run a government that is constantly shifting. This is the same reason the electoral college was put into the constitution and the same reason why senators were originally appointed by the state legislators and not by direct election.[/quote]

I do think we are a Democracy now. The push for it began 100 years ago. But I know that our Founders didn't intend us to be a Democracy -- which is simply a form a Socialism. The Founders originally established a Republic. Not a Democracy, not a democratic-republic, and not a representative democracy.

Our Founders liked to keep things simple as possible, and they hated Democracy. I feel the same way.

And I cannot stand terms like "representative democracy." Both because Democracy is detestable, so I don't like the word, and because our Founders didn't call the U.S. a "representative democracy, and because it's an academic word that our Founding Fathers didn't use.

I pledge to the flag, and "to the Republic for which it stands." Not to the "representative democracy" for which it stands. The US Constitution promises "a Republican form of government" ...not a "representative democracy."

After the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin was asked what sort of government had been established; he didn't say "representative democracy if you can keep it. Franklin responded "a Republic, if you can keep it." I guess as of about 1900, we couldn't keep it. And it's too bad.