
Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer an Actual Democracy (2014) - polskibus
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy
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pandeiro
"Government is the entertainment division of the military industrial complex."
\- Frank Zappa

Never truer than in 2016.

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dgllghr
I seem to remember that in the Federalist Papers, Madison argues against
direct democracy because it would become too partisan as the country grew.
Looks like as we slowly transformed the US republic into a democracy, he was
right. I can't say that's why we ended up with oligarchy, but I think building
power structures around parties has contributed greatly.

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antithesis
I think you need to check the definition of direct democracy. The U.S. has
never had that form of government, so U.S. history cannot possibly demonstrate
the accuracy of Madison's arguments.

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ende
I'd be curious if notions of "direct democracy" as we understand it today even
existed in Madison's time.

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Futurebot
Related, and much more fleshed out: The Second Gilded Age: has America become
an Oligarchy?

[http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-second-
gilde...](http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-second-gilded-age-
has-america-become-an-oligarchy-a-793896.html)

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ZoeZoeBee
Everything about this article is rubbish.

1) As has been mentioned by many before the US is not and never was intended
to be a Democracy. A Constitutional Republic is the form of government in the
US, those who choose to call it an actual Democracy are either placating the
plebs with a buzzword which makes them feel enabled, or are ignorant of the
reality of the representative nature of our our government.

2) The paper goes all the way back to the 1980s to draw upon its conclusion,
ignoring the way political appointments, selection of senators and voting in
general were conducted during the first two centuries of the US.

3) The source is talkingpointsmemo.com which is literally a site of talking
points for the left, who are constantly abusing the word "Democracy"

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Kinnard
No longer? When ever was it? It's always unambiguously been an oligarchic
republic.

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eternalban
A _constitutional_ republic, not merely a republic.

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vorotato
Yesterday's news tomorrow

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werdna123
Study is from 2014. Not news.

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akhatri_aus
This is old (2014), but if current indications are anything from someone
overseas it's lost a lot of its glory.

