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Edited by CrazyLincoln: 10/14/2018 3:35:28 AM
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How can America be a Democratic Country?

I have some questions #Offtopic: First, how can America be a Democratic country when the president was elected with a minority of the popular vote? [spoiler] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-lost-popular-vote-hillary-clinton-us-election-president-history-a7470116.html[/spoiler] How is it possible the majority party in the senate represents a minority of of the the total population of the United States, and the same is true for the house of representatives? [spoiler] https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/07/12/americas-electoral-system-gives-the-republicans-advantages-over-democrats[/spoiler] How can there states where a party with a majority of party votes has less control over the state legislator compared to the actual legislative majority? [spoiler] https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/25/gerrymandering-2016-election/[/spoiler] I call into question the legitimacy of not only the current “majority” party into question but the entire governmental system. How can a system that allows corporate interests to literally write laws, and disregards public opinion a legitimate governmental system? [spoiler] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/how-corporate-lobbyists-conquered-american-democracy/390822/[/spoiler] [spoiler] https://www.dancarlin.com/common-sense-home-landing-page/[/spoiler] What legitimacy does a government that claims to exist in support of the people and by the people but instead is run by international corporations and banks which completely ignore public opinion? A country where the majority party hold a minority population? I ask, honestly. How does anybody reconcile the hypocrisy of such a system? Edit: As I have seen the same comment used over and over I’m simply going to address it within this edit. First, this topic is discussing the MERITS of the political system, not asking WHAT the political system is. I am not saying America has X political system. I am saying the way the political system currently operates is not only a failure, but in total contradiction to the founding principles of the founding documents of the country. Saying: “America is a democratic republic” does not address my criticisms of the system, and it generally misses the point. Thank you.

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  • Back in 1787, the less populous colonies were worried about not having a voice in the new government. It was decided that the Senate would give each state equal representation, while the House would go by population. California and Wyoming each have two senators, but California has something like 50 representatives while Wyoming has only one. The electoral college is a combination of house and senate... effectively, the vote of a Wyoming or North Dakota resident has nearly three times the elective power of a Californian vote. Because all states get two senatorial votes. The last 230 years have greatly homogenized our country, makjng it seem unnecessary to give some states more influence than others. But, to change it, we have to change the Constitution. We've only done that 27 times in all those years, and the first 10 came all at once in 1789 (the Bill of Rights). So, in the 229 years since, only 17 amendments passed. Pretty big stuff mostly: ending slavery, granting minorities the vote, banning alcohol, permitting it again, letting women vote, and setting presidential term limits. This would be a similarly big deal.

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