Plato has a good point there. It's how I've always felt about government. The only problem is that the captain too often ends up as a corrupt dictator. It just goes to show that there is no perfect form of government. Personally, I find the failings of democracy to be the lesser of many other evils.

I agree. sadly. I like an idea I heard a man named Johan Galtung suggest, though: Making a wise men's council with former winners of the nobel peace prize, mandela, tutu, etc. and setting them on the more difficult global issues. They are people who have proved that they are not after personal winnings, and I think they are wise, many of them.

I still don't agree with your assessment of the electoral college, however. The process is not 100% representational democracy in its purest form, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is not democratic at all. With the exception of only two elections in our history (including Bush), the winner of the electoral vote has been the same as the winner of the popular vote. As I said before, I beleive that the general acceptance of the system makes even these elections democratic. If other nations disagree, though, then we should not be trying to force democracy on non-democratic countries.

You are probably right that the acceptance makes them democratic, but I have been trying to explain how it all comes through. What was the other election, by the way? I still haven't managed to get anybody to tell me that. Is it some kind of closely guarded state secret?
I guess my main point against the ec is that while I can understand that one would want the more sparsely populated states to get a bigger say, I think that is already covered in the Congress with the Senate, and that the President should be elected by each and every one. My feelings though, and I am not american.

Yes. Most Americans are very sensitive about issues related to race, though, and I doubt even the majority of informed citizens would tolerate a system that has been abused so much in the past.

Much like Europeans and patriotism. Another reason why we are a wee bit wary of Americans.


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

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent