Should the US become a democracy?

Tranquillus in Exile said:
We are constantly told by conservatives that the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Strictly speaking that’s not true. The popular vote decides every elected office at every level EXCEPT the Presidency.

We are told the electoral college was dreamt up to persuade smaller states to accept the Constitution. Otherwise - oh no! - a state such as Rhode Island would have been in danger of being overshadowed by the likes of Virginia or Pennsylvania.

More than two centuries later America is still saddled with this archaic deal, and it’s getting worse. Two out of the past six presidential elections were won by a candidate who lost the popular vote. We The People didn’t want George W Bush (the first time) or Donald J Trump (at all). Now, soon-to-be ex-President Trump is having a two-month sulk because he thinks he should have kept the job after losing both the popular vote AND the electoral college.

Time for a rethink when the system throws up freaks like that.
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Seen these exchanges on these forums all the time, and as to what the US is often just comes down to a matter of semantics. The majority of political terminology is so generalized that nearly any term can be stretched to cover an array of understanding.

Simple put, the US is a Democratic Republic, we are a Republic in structure and we elect our representatives to that Republic Democratically

And as for the EC, it is antiquated, based on geography, not people, but it isn’t changing, that is a reality, and a fact often omitted in the discussion on its origin is that it wasn’t just small States vs Large States, New Jersey wasn’t a small State at the time, but which States had claims on Western lands and who didn’t.
 
Nordberg said:
It is hard for rightys to understand that small states are irrelevant in many political veins. They have no interest in many, many American policies. The electoral college gives them a lot more power than they should have.
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What "small states" have no interest in "many American policies" and why?
 
archives said:
Seen these exchanges on these forums all the time, and as to what the US is often just comes down to a matter of semantics. The majority of political terminology is so generalized that nearly any term can be stretched to cover an array of understanding.

Simple put, the US is a Democratic Republic, we are a Republic in structure and we elect our representatives to that Republic Democratically.
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No nation in the history of the universe has ever been a pure democracy. So calling ourselves a "Democratic Republic" is meaningless and redundant.
 
BidenPresident said:
Answer the question. See, this is why most people ignore you. Are you stupid, a troll, or both?!
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LOL. Thanks for the demonstration, ma'm.
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Others can decide for themselves about who is a troll, whether or not I answered your question and who to put on an ignore list, either formally or not.
 
Nordberg said:
It is hard for rightys to understand that small states are irrelevant in many political veins. They have no interest in many, many American policies. The electoral college gives them a lot more power than they should have.
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Interesting point, exactly how relevant to the Nation are some of those small States?

Not saying they should be ignored, but why does the citizens of Wyoming have a much bigger say in national affairs or even international affairs affairs than say the residents of metro Cincinnati? Many of the small States have disproportionate representation
 
BidenPresident said:
The President does not make law. I know you wanted Trump to be a dictator, but we still have a democracy.
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Oh so now you're psychotic or psychic or something hum? How do you know what I want or think about Trump? Aside from that, the "Alphabet Soup" of government agencies is under aegis of the executive branch. They make regulations all the time. The President sets the tone for those regulations. Or, have you forgotten how Obama set a war on coal and was trying to ban fracking and oil exploration then Trump got in office and reversed that?

That's one recent example of how who's President could affect smaller, rural versus larger, urban states. It is an issue for each state who is President.
 
BidenPresident said:
No nation in the history of the universe has ever been a pure democracy. So calling ourselves a "Democratic Republic" is meaningless and redundant.
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Doesn’t imply “pure democracy,” you are playing with semantics, rather simply that we elect our representatives democratically, we vote for them, one person one vote, and by the way, for a time, Athens was a “pure democracy”
 
archives said:
Doesn’t imply “pure democracy,” you are playing with semantics, rather simply that we elect our representatives democratically, we vote for them, one person one vote, and by the way, for a time, Athens was a “pure democracy”
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You don't even know what "semantics" means.
 
Jack said:
That makes sense. I have to show my Drivers License when I go to Vote. How about you? Do you just wander in Precinct after Precinct and cast a Ballot?
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I would but AK requires an ID also. I even have to sign in and they check my signature with my ID. Alaska is a very rayciss state with strict voter suppression.
Explains why Trump beat Biden by 10% here.
 
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archives said:
Doesn’t imply “pure democracy,” you are playing with semantics, rather simply that we elect our representatives democratically, we vote for them, one person one vote, and by the way, for a time, Athens was a “pure democracy”
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Athens was never a pure democracy. Go ahead, cite a historian.
 
BidenPresident said:
Bye, troll.
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Promises, promises, dear. You keep saying that. Why can't you ever keep your word?

The present system of the US government works. No sense in tearing down main parts of the house just because it needs a few repairs and more TLC.
 
BidenPresident said:
You don't even know what "semantics" means.
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Apparently, that is your shortcoming, not mine, but I’ll help you out:

“the language used (as in advertising or political propaganda) to achieve a desired effect on an audience especially through the use of words with novel or dual meanings”

As I said, intentionally making the obvious complicated comes down to a matter of semantics
 
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