Comments | mister_happy: Democracy? Not so much

mister_happy

Democracy? Not so much

May 06, 2008 20:18

As a person who thinks voting in a democracy should involve more than one option, I have been disappointed by the California system, particularly for the House of Representatives. The last time around, a Republican didn't even run. I know that he'll get whomped, but the Republican party really destroyed my illusion of choice by not running ( Read more... )

Comments 5

christophedumas May 7 2008, 12:14:42 UTC

The difference between Russia and California (all jokes aside) is that in Russia, the single choice is enforced by the strong arm of a very centralized, authoritarian government.

In California, simple voter apathy is probably to blame. Perhaps brought on by a dose of monolithic political culture.

mister_happy May 7 2008, 16:47:31 UTC

I realize that it is totally different than Russia, but it isn't pure democracy(ie: IRV) either.

Realistically, gerrymandered districts is responsible for a huge portion of the problem. Take a look at the 23rd: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ca23_109.gif

christophedumas May 7 2008, 17:29:13 UTC

True, gerrymandering is a big issue, a dirty political trick played equally by whatever party happens to be in power.

Care to guess which party was in power when the current borders of New York's 22nd was drawn up?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:New_York_District_22_109th_US_Congress.png

medtecher May 7 2008, 17:57:13 UTC

I see your point re: democracy, but I'm not sure I'm so against a political party effectively deciding which candidate should be on the party's ticket.

I don't know anything about local California politics, so any choice I made to differentiate between competing Democratic candidates (if there were any) would be pretty superficial. When I voted in Florida (where there definitely were both Democrats and Republicans running for most offices and where the primaries often had multiple candidates), I used to read up on the candidates online before voting. But does reading a few tidbits on a candidate's website or looking up some voting records make me more qualified than the Democratic Party to select the best person for the ticket? Probably not.

(The comment has been removed)

mister_happy May 7 2008, 22:38:58 UTC

I don't see how lack of apathy gets me two choices for House of Representatives? Unless I run for the Party Central Committee. Then I would be one of the lucky 7 people in California who get to choose the candidate. But the rest of you would still be stuck with the one choice I give you.