# What if you lived in a Democracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852 "2009-12-11T12:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/1 "2009-12-11T12:09:56Z")
This poll is for the Americans. Pardon the inflamatory title of the thread, but one could reason that the current electoral system in the US only provides one option more than a communist state. The informal two-party system seems quite entrenched, but as an experiment I’m wondering how people would vote (and by extension how the political arena would look) if other parties and candidates were viable in the general elections. So assuming the US had a parlimentary system which allowed for a multitude of parties, where would you cast your vote? [edit:] I’m aware that there are a multitude of different voting systems, congress, senator, governor, presidental etc. This is mainly to get a general idea. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/2 "2009-12-11T12:18:51Z")
I don’t base my selection on the party. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/3 "2009-12-11T13:16:00Z")
Neither do I. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/4 "2009-12-11T13:50:38Z")
Well many countries don’t have personal election but rather party elections, or a combination of the two. You vote for ideas rather than people, although of course the people advocating the ideas will have a big impact. I would think that most people have a preference although they may be more or less easily swayed by a single candidate. I for one might be swayed to vote for another candidate than the one representing my party, but there are certain parties I would never vote for no matter how likable the candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/5 "2009-12-11T14:30:04Z")
I didn’t use to have a party but since I currently would rather cut off a toe than vote for a republican, I’m a democrat now. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/6 "2009-12-11T14:54:54Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > Well many countries don’t have personal election but rather party elections, or a combination of the two. You vote for ideas rather than people, although of course the people advocating the ideas will have a big impact. I would think that most people have a preference although they may be more or less easily swayed by a single candidate. I for one might be swayed to vote for another candidate than the one representing my party, but there are certain parties I would never vote for no matter how likable the candidate. What if YOU lived in a democracy? The only thing worse in a democracy than a two party system is a party list system where you have no control over who you’re voting for. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/7 "2009-12-11T14:59:12Z")
Bring back the Bull Moose! ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/8 "2009-12-11T15:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Stoneburg] This poll is for the Americans. Pardon the inflamatory title of the thread, but one could reason that the current electoral system in the US only provides one option more than a communist state [/QUOTE] Communism does not refer to the type of ascendency to the power, it refers to the economic basis. Still, I would rather live in a constitutional republic than a democracy. Recent votes on civil rights issues as ballots have shown that we are still struggling with the whole two wolves one sheep voting bloc. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/9 "2009-12-11T15:15:56Z")
Based on my minimal exposure to British politics, I believe I am quite compatible with the [Lib Dems](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Democrats). I chose “other”, because I have no idea what a serious green or socialist party would look like in the US. I’d assume it would be similar to the Canadian Green and NDP parties, in which case I don’t think I would vote for them, unless the Liberals and Conservative candidates were horrible. I almost always vote Democrat in the US, although I don’t consider myself a lefty, but Republican positions on the use of the military, gay rights, abortion rights, are complete deal breakers to me. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/10 "2009-12-11T15:19:48Z")
> [@kenner116](#): > > I chose “other”, because I have no idea what a serious green or socialist party would look like in the US. Psst… they’d look [like](http://www.gp.org/index.php) [this](http://socialistparty-usa.org/). For what it’s worth, I’d never vote for the Socialists just because their website is so ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/11 "2009-12-11T15:34:16Z")
I voted “Other” because I would probably still remain independent. Unless maybe if there were some kind of “Christian Socialist” party and even then I probably wouldn’t be very loyal. Plenty of Christians and plenty of Socialists piss me off. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/12 "2009-12-11T15:47:55Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > This poll is for the Americans. Pardon the inflamatory title of the thread, but one could reason that the current electoral system in the US only provides one option more than a communist state. The informal two-party system seems quite entrenched, but as an experiment I’m wondering how people would vote (and by extension how the political arena would look) if other parties and candidates were viable in the general elections. > > So assuming the US had a parlimentary system which allowed for a multitude of parties, where would you cast your vote? > [edit:] I’m aware that there are a multitude of different voting systems, congress, senator, governor, presidental etc. This is mainly to get a general idea. Oh, you mean the [type of government](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Israel#Political_conditions) where small fringe parties have hugely disproportionate power because they can make and break coalitions? ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/13 "2009-12-11T15:58:36Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > Oh, you mean the [type of government](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Israel#Political_conditions) where small fringe parties have hugely disproportionate power because they can make and break coalitions? Yes. Wasn’t that clear from the start? If you want to debate whether a system where only two sides are heard is better, I’d be interested in doing so, but perhaps in another sub forum. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/14 "2009-12-11T17:44:41Z")
So the GOP and DNC would get about 15%? Perhaps not a representative selection of the American public. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/15 "2009-12-11T17:49:16Z")
God, if only I lived in a democracy. Like the UK. Remember when they elected Gordon Brown to be their Prime Minister? That was really an amazing display of… …oh, wait. Never mind, ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/16 "2009-12-11T18:19:37Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > So the GOP and DNC would get about 15%? Perhaps not a representative selection of the American public. I was going to call you out on this, but I think it’s hilariously appropriate that you are wondering how many people would vote for the Democratic National Committee. Because they don’t do that now in America (they vote for the Democratic party candidate,) but they _would_ essentially be voting for the DNC to choose candidates for them under your system! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/17 "2009-12-11T18:23:43Z")
I’m center-left and have, for all of my adult life, considered myself a Democrat. I see no reason to change now. A two-party system is best if it avoids the disproportionate influence that tiny, niche “kingmaker” parties wield in some multiparty democracies such as Italy and Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/18 "2009-12-11T18:25:54Z")
I don’t see how having a bunch of far-right and far-left fringe parties helps anything. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/19 "2009-12-11T19:42:24Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > God, if only I lived in a democracy. Like the UK. Remember when they elected Gordon Brown to be their Prime Minister? That was really an amazing display of… > > …oh, wait. > > Never mind, Never mentioned the UK and though I’m not sure about their system it seems like a two party one. But If you live in the US you get to pick one out of two candidates, out of 300 million plus people. Would you like Coke or Urine with that? ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852/20 "2009-12-11T19:45:54Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I don’t see how having a bunch of far-right and far-left fringe parties helps anything. What do you mean helps? Something being more democratic doesn’t neccesarily help anyone, it just means it is more democratic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-lived-in-a-democracy/520852.md?page=2)