One could agree with you if that were indeed the case in every example. The US's foreign policy only attempts to "export" democracy unto those nations that do not have it, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and, perhaps soon, Iraq. It has stopped trying to force China to become one.

well yes, why should you attempt to export it to those who have it?

I do agree that it can cause resentment, yet, I am left to wonder: poll after poll in the Arab world shows young Arabs desiring the institutions of the US (they do not like the US's policies), and disliking the restrictions placed on them. So food for thought, I think. Nothing more.

by the institutions of the US you mean? and what restrictions.

This is because the US teaches its history and electoral processess in its schools, from Kindergarten up. They hold the same standard to people who want to become Citizens.

But you do not test those who are going to vote.
Again, with the danger that you will demand proof I am not able to deliver, I make the statement that a great many Americans manage to get to that age without knowing more about the system than foreigners.

They do hold the same standard to the rest of the populace. OHR was talking about knowing things in referrence to people who have decided to vote (over 18 ), and how, often, they do not know much about the candidates they will support. Or they have forgotten or never learned the electoral college or democratic processess.

see above

Yet all your arguments make assumptions, accept them as fact, and continue from there. Often (and I do not say this in anger) I believe your arguments come from ignorance. So too, I have yet to see proof that voters no nothing about who they plan to vote for. This is simply not true: people in the US just don't "suddenly" decide to vote, just for the fun of it. Whether they know the candidate's entire platform or support one side of an issue (gun control, abortion, taxes, tax-cuts vs spending), they are not ignorant.

probably ignorance. But also a notorious bad memory (thanks to nasty doctors), and thus an inability to remember what we are talking about from time to time. In adittion, my ignorance when it comes to using the search of the internet.
As for "suddenly deciding to vote just for the fun of it". Knowing just a small portion of the platform is not much better than suddenly deciding and picking a candidate on a whim.


Magnus Alexander corpore parvus erat
Dissenting voice of wotmania
Frightfully stubborn pacifist

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent