H
humbleseeker
Guest
Thank you for that
Ummm, no you won’t. You’ll find a brief description of how it works but not an extensive explanation of that or anything. The whole Constitution is quite brief and could easily fit on two sides of a sheet of legal sized paper.I suggest reading through the U.S. Constitution, where you will find an extensive explanation of why the Electoral College was created.
Oh, the world of democracy like Maduro and PutinJonNC:![]()
It’s the laughingstock of the world.The EC is remarkably fair, and effective for a federal system.
Would you still say that if half of the Electors choose a fictional character and throw the Presidency to the House?The EC is remarkably fair, and effective for a federal system
I didn’t realize this until I met this nice Nebraska couple on a plane flying to Chicago on their honeymoon. They were very excited to see the lake of all places and visit the museums. Rural people are all right in my book.Also, many rural folks visit the Big Cities for business or sometimes pleasure.
What if we had a national plebiscite and Martin the Martian was elected?JonNC:![]()
Would you still say that if half of the Electors choose a fictional character and throw the Presidency to the House?The EC is remarkably fair, and effective for a federal system
Especially the rights of the smallest minority… the individual.A republic better protects minority rights.
You seem to be misrepresenting Women’s suffrage in the US. It was far more complex than that single year since it had to be ratified in all the states. It started in 1869, in WY of all states. There was much activity well in advance of the final State giving agreement in 1920.The world’s oldest democracy? Not by a long shot. I don’t think you can call it a democracy when half of the population is prohibited from voting by law. That was the case in the US until 1920. But Canada passed women’s suffrage in 1917. Britain, Germany, and Poland in 1918. Austria and the Netherlands in 1919. But Finland was even earlier in 1906.
Whether it was slow and gradual or all at once, we can’t really call the US a democracy before 1920.LeafByNiggle:![]()
You seem to be misrepresenting Women’s suffrage in the US. It was far more complex than that single year since it had to be ratified in all the states. It started in 1869, in WY of all states. There was much activity well in advance of the final State giving agreement in 1920.The world’s oldest democracy? Not by a long shot. I don’t think you can call it a democracy when half of the population is prohibited from voting by law. That was the case in the US until 1920. But Canada passed women’s suffrage in 1917. Britain, Germany, and Poland in 1918. Austria and the Netherlands in 1919. But Finland was even earlier in 1906.
But you live in Australia, right? Aussie’s didn’t provide full suffrage until 1962.
Far worse than the Pot calling the Kettle black me thinks.
Women's Suffrage Timeline State by State
I disagree, the concept of democracy evolved to add the inclusion of women and one does not need to wait till 1920 before recognizing the concept was in place.Whether it was slow and gradual or all at once, we can’t really call the US a democracy before 1920.
Sorry, I thought I read you refer to Australia as your location in a recent climate discussion. Thanks for clarifying.(By the way, I live in Minneapolis, MN, not Australia.)
Of course all of this is irrelevant, as the claim about this being the “oldest democracy” was introduced to give the credit to the electoral college as having brought this about. There is no reason not to think that the US would still be the oldest democracy if the President were directly elected instead of through the electoral college. It is really an infinitesimal part in the US success story, if indeed it plays any part at all.LeafByNiggle:![]()
I disagree, the concept of democracy evolved to add the inclusion of women and one does not need to wait till 1920 before recognizing the concept was in place.Whether it was slow and gradual or all at once, we can’t really call the US a democracy before 1920.
I agree. Nor should we call it a democracy today.Whether it was slow and gradual or all at once, we can’t really call the US a democracy before 1920.
You are being petty to manufacture a difference.Of course all of this is irrelevant, as the claim about this being the “oldest democracy” was introduced to give the credit to the electoral college as having brought this about. There is no reason not to think that the US would still be the oldest democracy if the President were directly elected instead of through the electoral college. It is really an infinitesimal part in the US success story, if indeed it plays any part at all.
What difference does it make if the US is the world’s oldest democracy? For purposes of this thread, I concede it fully, entirely, and without reservation. But this thread is about the electoral college. And like I said, the fact of the US being the world’s oldest democracy does not bear on the discussion of the desirability of the electoral college.LeafByNiggle:![]()
You are being petty to manufacture a difference.Of course all of this is irrelevant, as the claim about this being the “oldest democracy” was introduced to give the credit to the electoral college as having brought this about. There is no reason not to think that the US would still be the oldest democracy if the President were directly elected instead of through the electoral college. It is really an infinitesimal part in the US success story, if indeed it plays any part at all.
The Greeks have a good claim to be the first democracy, but they didn’t survive.
It’s completely valid in context of history (not Gender & Women’s Studies) to put the USA in running for the oldest surviving democracy.
Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Isle of Man all have local parliaments founded in the ninth and 10th centuries, but they were more like territories under foreign rule, not countries.
The question is really on you for some reflection.What difference does it make if the US is the world’s oldest democracy? For purposes of this thread, I concede it fully, entirely, and without reservation. But this thread is about the electoral college. And like I said, the fact of the US being the world’s oldest democracy does not bear on the discussion of the desirability of the electoral college.
What I find puzzling is that Trump is the one being accused of being the populist president, and yet here you are advocating precisely the surest form of populism.JonNC:![]()
That is not the principle that meant. I meant the principle of one person one vote. Do you agree with that principle or not?LeafByNiggle:![]()
There is absolutely no circumstance under which I agree on a national plebiscite.I did not assume that as a premise. I proved it from principles we both agree with.
I agree with everything but the above. I think they know exactly what democracy leads to.The Founding Fathers understood the danger in a pure democracy in a way that the current crop of leftists, hungry for power, simply do not.
I share your confusion over the word “populist.” I never did understand how that applied to Trump. What do you take the word to mean, and do you think it applies to Trump?What I find puzzling is that Trump is the one being accused of being the populist president, and yet here you are advocating precisely the surest form of populism.
They understood even more vividly the dangers of a monarchy, having just fought a war to break free from England. I don’t know how they could have had any special insight into the dangers of democracy, having had absolutely no recent experience with it. To them democracy was a theoretical concept that was used only briefly in ancient Greece. If there are special dangers to democracy, I would think that people today would have much more knowledge of those dangers than the founding fathers.The Founding Fathers understood the danger in a pure democracy in a way that the current crop of leftists, hungry for power, simply do not.
That is probably true, just as opposition to the measure is mounted by the Republicans who perceive this as a way for them to lose power.At least be honest and admit that doing away with the electoral college is a convenient ploy by the Democrats to achieve power by changing the rules when it suits them.
Groundless speculation, more suitable for a Trump rally speech.As is the open borders strategy, lowering the voting age to 16, permitting undocumented aliens to vote, striking down voter ID laws, etc., etc. If the Democrat hold on power was threatened by any of these they would be the first to be fighting against every one of them.
I wonder why you would say this, even if you believe it? You realize that roughly half the nation is supportive of the Democrats - probably many of them that you deal with every day. If you are going to adopt that antagonistic attitude toward your neighbors, you are going to have a very frustrating life. Unless you have a plan to either rid the nation of Democrats (by means I cannot imagine), or win Democrats over to your way of thinking (in which case calling them “unprincipled” is a very ineffective way to do it.)It just demonstrates how unprincipled and power hungry the Democrats are.