Claim: The US is a constitutional republic, not a democracy

[Aarr!]

Why is it so important for some American conservatives to insist on this claim? As far as I know, the only significant respect in which the US is not a pure democracy is the collegiate system of presidential elections. Is that what this is all about?

If I said that the UK is a monarchy, not a democracy, that would be regarded as very odd, because for a century or more it has been both of those things, and nobody - certainly not conservatives - would claim otherwise. I might add that it has enjoyed freedom from arbitrary rule for much longer. That indeed is not the same thing as democracy, although the terms are often confused.

Any ideas?

 

[cawacko]

Desh?

 

[Teflon Don]

Because it is true

Democracy is mob rule. Founders wanted to avoid that

 

[Aarr!]

Desh?

If you're asking am I Desh, the answer is no.

Do you say that the US is not a democracy? Is that because of the collegiate system in presidential elections?

 

[Truth Detector]

Why is it so important for some American conservatives to insist on this claim? As far as I know, the only significant respect in which the US is not a pure democracy is the collegiate system of presidential elections. Is that what this is all about?

If I said that the UK is a monarchy, not a democracy, that would be regarded as very odd, because for a century or more it has been both of those things, and nobody - certainly not conservatives - would claim otherwise. I might add that it has enjoyed freedom from arbitrary rule for much longer. That indeed is not the same thing as democracy, although the terms are often confused.

Any ideas?

Another loser that failed grade school American Government. I want you to imagine the US without the electoral system. If a President was chosen by popular vote, the only States that would have representation would be California, New York, Washington, Oregon and maybe Texas.

Because we are a Republic of States with LIMITED Federal Government, States are represented better by an electoral college. The Federal Government has LIMITED powers basically amounting to defending our borders, or interests and administering our laws. ALL other powers are reserved to the States.

 

[Truth Detector]

If you're asking am I Desh, the answer is no.

Do you say that the US is not a democracy? Is that because of the collegiate system in presidential elections?

It's not a collegiate system you moron. It's an electoral college.

Read, and become informed:

The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states.

The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College is hard to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power. Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers:
https://www.historycentral.com/elections/Electoralcollgewhy.html

 

[Flash]

Why is it so important for some American conservatives to insist on this claim? As far as I know, the only significant respect in which the US is not a pure democracy is the collegiate system of presidential elections. Is that what this is all about?

If I said that the UK is a monarchy, not a democracy, that would be regarded as very odd, because for a century or more it has been both of those things, and nobody - certainly not conservatives - would claim otherwise. I might add that it has enjoyed freedom from arbitrary rule for much longer. That indeed is not the same thing as democracy, although the terms are often confused.

Any ideas?

A direct democracy is a system in which issues are decided by a majority vote of the citizens--like a New England town meeting. Americans have never voted on issues at the federal level.

We are a representative democracy but differ from parliamentary democracies in that majority rule of Parliament decide issues and those decisions are not usually limited by constitutional restrictions. In the U. S. if a majority wanted to limit the free speech of Muslims or white supremacists that violates governmental power even if 3/4 of the people and members of Congress support it.

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html

 

[Cypress]

Claim: The US is a constitutional republic, not a democracy

Why is it so important for some American conservatives to insist on this claim?

1) Because they keep losing the popular vote, and yet cling to power against the will of the people. There are grown adults alive today who have only seen the GOP win a national popular vote one single time in their lives.

2) Conservatives are the intellectual inheritance of the Whigs, the Tories, the Reactionaries, the Royalists. They do not trust the people, and believe that elites, the wealthy, the monied interests, and the landed gentry, (and preferably white males), should be the ones making the decisions.

 

[Aarr!]

A direct democracy is a system in which issues are decided by a majority vote of the citizens--like a New England town meeting. Americans have never voted on issues at the federal level.

We are a representative democracy but differ from parliamentary democracies in that majority rule of Parliament decide issues and those decisions are not usually limited by constitutional restrictions. In the U. S. if a majority wanted to limit the free speech of Muslims or white supremacists that violates governmental power even if 3/4 of the people and members of Congress support it.

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html

Thanks! So would you say that the US is both a constitutional republic and a representative democracy? A surprizing number of conservatives flatly deny that - it seems to be important to them.

 

[Aarr!]

1) Because they keep losing the popular vote, and yet cling to power against the will of the people. There are grown adults alive today who have only seen the GOP win a national popular vote one single time in their lives.

2) Conservatives are the intellectual inheritance of the Whigs, the Tories, the Reactionaries, the Royalists. They do not trust the people, and believe that elites, the wealthy, the monied interests, and the landed gentry, (and preferably white males), should be the ones making the decisions.

I was thinking something on those lines, but I wanted to see conservatives make their case.

 

[Flash]

Thanks! So would you say that the US is both a constitutional republic and a representative democracy? A surprizing number of conservatives flatly deny that - it seems to be important to them.

Yes. A republic means rule by representatives. Those representatives do not have to be elected and the U. S. Constitution created a republic but only the House was elected by the people. Madison (Federalist #10) specifically sought to avoid a system where any faction(s) could impose its policies on others---that includes a majority.

We have evolved to give more power to citizens to elect our representatives and include a larger percentage of our citizens in that vote and that has given our republic a more democratic aspect than it had originally.

 

[Nordberg]

Democracies which is majority rule is for unions, not the government. The party the majority of Americans vote for has lost 4 elections.

 

[Fentoine Lum]

Because it is true

Democracy is mob rule. Founders wanted to avoid that

Yup, that's why they set this shit up, all they did was bring the fucked up old world they didn't want anymore to the new world and fucked it all up like the old world.

Sit down and stfu, the aristocracy will tell you how it is with fweedumb, you have no say.

 

[countryboy]

1) Because they keep losing the popular vote, and yet cling to power against the will of the people. There are grown adults alive today who have only seen the GOP win a national popular vote one single time in their lives.

Lol, utter falsehood. The only election in the United States not tallied by popular vote, is the presidential election. How do you explain the massive loss by democrats, of the House, the Senate, a multitude of governoships, as well as state and local positions since 2010? Allow me to assist you. Your ideas simply aren't popular. Furthermore, your rank hypocrisy is truly astonishing. You only like the popular vote when it goes your way. When it doesn't, you prefer to use the courts to impose your sick, twisted ideals upon everybody else.

2) Conservatives are the intellectual inheritance of the Whigs, the Tories, the Reactionaries, the Royalists. They do not trust the people, and believe that elites, the wealthy, the monied interests, and the landed gentry, (and preferably white males), should be the ones making the decisions.

Typical racist leftist loonery, unworthy of a response.

 

[SouthernUnkleRitchie]

Because it is true

Democracy is mob rule. Founders wanted to avoid that

Yes we need to abolish voting and let the landed gentry pick our rulers.

 

[SouthernUnkleRitchie]

Lol, utter falsehood. The only election in the United States not tallied by popular vote, is the presidential election. How do you explain the massive loss by democrats, of the House, the Senate, a multitude of governoships, as well as state and local positions since 2010? Allow me to assist you. Your ideas simply aren't popular. Furthermore, your rank hypocrisy is truly astonishing. You only like the popular vote when it goes your way. When it doesn't, you prefer to use the courts to impose your sick, twisted ideals upon everybody else.



Typical racist leftist loonery, unworthy of a response.

Typical rw brain dead buffoon, to stupid to respond^

 

[Flash]

1) Because they keep losing the popular vote, and yet cling to power against the will of the people. There are grown adults alive today who have only seen the GOP win a national popular vote one single time in their lives.

2) Conservatives are the intellectual inheritance of the Whigs, the Tories, the Reactionaries, the Royalists. They do not trust the people, and believe that elites, the wealthy, the monied interests, and the landed gentry, (and preferably white males), should be the ones making the decisions.

1. Untrue. They win the popular vote as often as Democrats. Governors and state legislatures are predominantly Republican and based only on the popular vote. Republicans won the popular vote in the U. S. House election in 2016 and 2012 and the U. S. Senate elections of 2014 and 2010. Republicans hold a near record number of seats and have gained 1,000 seats since 2008---only one of those is not determined by the popular vote.

2. The description of Republicans as Populists does not conform to your description.

 

[countryboy]

I'm a typical LWNJ brain dead buffoon, to stupid to respond^

I can see that.

 

[Robo]

Why is it so important for some American conservatives to insist on this claim? As far as I know, the only significant respect in which the US is not a pure democracy is the collegiate system of presidential elections. Is that what this is all about?

If I said that the UK is a monarchy, not a democracy, that would be regarded as very odd, because for a century or more it has been both of those things, and nobody - certainly not conservatives - would claim otherwise. I might add that it has enjoyed freedom from arbitrary rule for much longer. That indeed is not the same thing as democracy, although the terms are often confused.

Any ideas?

Though the nation's governing body "representatives" are elected by a popular "democratic" vote, No elected representative is sworn to the directive of a majority of the people. Every representative is sworn to represent the people within the confines of the "constitutional rule of law." America is designed as a Constitutional Republic who's people are represented by democratic elections of representatives sworn to govern by a "Constitution."

 

[iolo]

The key points, I think, are that the US is now a compulsory Federation, in which a couple of quite small States can outvote a big one when it matters and that many constituencies are hugely gerrymandered, to a degree that is weird. No, it's not really a democracy, is it?