[Winona Online Democracy] Duane (Peterson),
Maybe this is a case of using different definitions. Here are my working (simple) definitions. 1. Republic: a system in which the "citizens" elect their leaders, as opposed to having them chosen for them by nobility, the church, an oligrachy, dictator, etc. 2. Direct Democracy: citizens can take part in all major decisions that affect them. The classic example of this is what existed in Athens for a time. What some might call a more "pure" democracy. 3. Representative Democracy: citizens elect others to make major decisions on their behalf 4. Empire: That is a tricky one. I'm curious, how would people define an empire? The U.S. was founded as a republic. It's also a representative democracy. Shifting to the point about different ways to quote voting statistics. I think the percentage of eligible voters is a much more important indicator than the percentage of registered voters. Lastly, going back to the original ratio of U.S. House of Representatives sent to Congress in Washington D.C., 1 for every 60,000 people vs. 1 for every 600,000. If we assume Minnesota has roughly 5 million people, that would mean we would have roughly 83 U.S. Representatives from Minnesota alone. Instead we have 8. (Or is it 9 and Wisconsin has 8 or vice versa? I get them confused.) That would mean we would have more U.S. Representatives going to Washington D.C. than we have State Senators in Minnesota. Would that kind of democracy look and feel different? Then again, greater Los Angeles alone would have over 160 U.S. Representatives. Then again, instead of 435 members of the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C., we'd have over 4,350. Random musings... Is democracy possible in a country beyond a certain size? Is bigger the same thing as better when it comes to democracy? Any thoughts? Dwayne Voegeli ------- >Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 13:58:59 -0500 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Dwayne Voegeli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [Winona] Your Vote Matters > >[Winona Online Democracy] > >Wayne, I don't think you meant to but your analysis equates democracy with a >republic. The USA has always been a republic and not a democracy. In a >democracy, every citizen gets to vote on every issue. In a republic our >representative does the issue voting. > >The lack of voting is partly attributable to the complications of the issues. >Most citizens do not take the time to read and inform themselves on the issues. > Politicians tend to send simplistic messages in order to get listenership or >voter observation. > >On voting statistics, one should observe that people are quoting different ways >of counting. As a percentage of the voting age population, we have a very low >turnout. Our turnout gets better if we measure the numbers voting against the >numbers registered to vote. Lastly we are a very mobile society, and tend to >change residences fairly often. If one leaves a voting district and moves to a >new district, the statistics do not show that the voter has moved. That voter >is counted as one who did not vote. So, be careful to check how the statistics >were gathered before attributing any conclusions about our voting habits. >Quoting Dwayne Voegeli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
