Is America a democracy?

[Zeppy]

Actually, oligarchy does seem about right.

I'm with a federal plutarchy democratic republic.

[Lackadaisical2]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

In my middle school they told me that both America and Canada are democracies.

It all depends what you mean when you say 'democracy' they're both representative democracies.

Representative democracy is not democracy.

yeah, youtube video, very convincing, its just a term, as long as people understand what you're talking about it doesn't matter.

It's extremely ignorant of you to dismiss something just because it's on YouTube,

I was dismissive of it, doesn't mean I did dismiss it out of hand. Its of even poorer form to simply link to a website and not explain your argument.

especially when the video contains real statistics that you can look up yourself.

None of which have any bearing on whether the US is a democracy or not. The only figures presented are the net worth of the representatives, a couple figures on voting and how mcuh campaign contributions there were.

Watch the video, then you can tell me whether you're dismissing it out of hand or not.

as if you had anyway to know, oh wait... how else would I know what was on it?

[Chrobalta]

Supposedly a representative democracy. Though it seems more like a kleptocratic corporate oligarchy.

[Underworld City]

No its a big socialist state.

[JJ Place]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

Agreed; there has not been a major democracy since Greece, over 2000 years ago.

[Uawc]

No its a big socialist state.

That was excellent satire.

[Station 12]

For the sake of leaving this thread quickly while also having added to it, I'm going to turn back into JOY unit for a bit.

*ahem*

The best modern definition of Democracy that JOY unit could find was

Democracy - Form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law.

America seems to have all of these traits. However, JOY unit would support America were it to take away Democracy and become a Dicta- Okay back to normal.

[Caninope]

I'm gonna say that it is indeed a Federal Republic.

Most of the time, media only entrenches people in their views, not changes it.

[Dalache]

The CIA says that the US is a "Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition".

So there's a democratic tradition, but it's not a democracy as a whole.

[Cameroi]

america maintains a facade in the hope of avoiding massive popular rebellion.

actual policy decisions seem most often to be made by "conservative" industry "think tanks" like the rand corporation and the so called heritage institute.

[Monocrat]

Ah, I hate the game of political semantics.

Democracy is a political government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (Representative democracy).

Let me clarify what the other poster was trying to say:

"Representative Democracy" is not the same as the idealized version of democracy in which every person's vote counts that we Americans claim to strive for and love.

[Hayteria]

Well, it's supposed to be a republic, "if they can keep it" but the majority has the power to vote for politicians who don't obey the constitution, and even those politicians theoretically have the power to put judges on the supreme court who will be too leniant to their policies to really enforce the constitution. Well, from my understanding of it...

[Maurepas]

the US is a democracy, a Representative Democracy...

Now, whether one considers that democratic enough, is another matter, but, it is one nonetheless...

[Maurepas]

Well, it's supposed to be a republic

That has nothing to do with whether it is a democracy in the slightest, one can be a republic and still a dictatorship, or a republic and a democracy...or a republic that is technically a democracy but operates as an oligarchy(which is my opinion of what the US is, really)...

A Republic is simply a state without a hereditary ruler...

[Maurepas]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

Agreed; there has not been a major democracy since Greece, over 2000 years ago.

Obviously all they teach is Republican Talking points, their myth that a Republic somehow means we are not a Democracy is bullshit...

[Cameroi]

technically america is a representative republic, but it does a damd piss poor job of representing anything other then corporate economic interests.

if you want to call, being alowed to vote on whether twiddlededee looks better or worse then twiddlededum, on corporate media, a democracy, well, to each their own i guess.

substantive policy decision are still in the hands of economic interests rather then the people it pretends to represent.

[Galloism]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

Agreed; there has not been a major democracy since Greece, over 2000 years ago.

Obviously all they teach is Republican Talking points, their myth that a Republic somehow means we are not a Democracy is bullshit...

Well, technically it's a democratic republic.

This is also known as a "representative democracy", as opposed to a "direct democracy."

[Sol-Kar]

the US is a democratic Republic

[Cameroi]

as long as it represents economic interests and economic interests only, at the expense of real people, places and things, to call it a democracy is utter travesty.

[Maurepas]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

Agreed; there has not been a major democracy since Greece, over 2000 years ago.

Obviously all they teach is Republican Talking points, their myth that a Republic somehow means we are not a Democracy is bullshit...

Well, technically it's a democratic republic.

This is also known as a "representative democracy", as opposed to a "direct democracy."

It is a Democratic Republic, but, that is not also known as "Representative Democracy", Representative Democracy is Representative Democracy...

the Republic Part is simply this:

A republic is a type of government where the citizens choose their leaders of their country , and the people (or at least a part of its people) have an impact on its government. The word "republic" is derived from the Latin phrase res publica, which can be translated as "a public affair".

Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology and composition. The most common definition of a republic is a state without a monarch.

The term was corrupted in its usage in the United States, as I mentioned:

In the United States, James Madison defined republic in terms of representative democracy as opposed to direct democracy, and this usage is still employed by many viewing themselves as "republicans".

[The Imperial Navy]

It's a Democracy. Not a good Democracy, but a Democracy none-the-less.

[Kalasparata]

America is a corruption, not a democrasy

[Hegstoria]

No, its a democratic republic, meaning it has representatives elected by the people to represent their best wishes, so in reality it is not a democracy.

[Gordonisia]

Does the Pope protect pedophiles? (i love south park)

but seriously, yeah it is a representative democracy

[The Christian Reich]

Don't they teach this in middle school anymore?


No. The US is a republic.

^this