The General Political Thread

[StevenChilton]

Not the first time the Germans have felt threatened by a US President.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-germany-survey/germans-see-trump-as-bigger-problem-than-north-korea-or-russia-idUSKBN1DZ0GY

[Furrnox]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/04/supreme-court-permits-full-enforcement-trump-travel-ban.html

Well... that took a while.

Was he really democratically elected though? He got way less votes than Hillary, Donald Trump is a president of the minority not the majority.

Also look up Felix Sater & Tevfik Arif.

[Conway]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/04/supreme-court-permits-full-enforcement-trump-travel-ban.html

Well... that took a while.

Was he really democratically elected though? He got way less votes than Hillary, Donald Trump is a president of the minority not the majority.

Also look up Felix Sater & Tevfik Arif.

Yes, he was really democratically elected. If you're using popular vote to justify democracy than there is no democracy in the world except for Switzerland.

[joer5835]

If you're using popular vote to justify democracy than there is no democracy in the world except for Switzerland.

Not entirely true. Popular vote determines who wins an election in countries with a parliament based on proportional representation, which there are more of in the world than only Switzerland.

[Karth]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/04/supreme-court-permits-full-enforcement-trump-travel-ban.html

Well... that took a while.

Was he really democratically elected though? He got way less votes than Hillary, Donald Trump is a president of the minority not the majority.

Also look up Felix Sater & Tevfik Arif.

Obviously he was democratically elected. That's been in our constitution for a while lol

[Furrnox]

Muh constitution is purfect hur durr.
I know it's in the constitution but that doesn't change the fact that he was elected by the minority.

[Toffee]

Muh constitution is purfect hur durr.
I know it's in the constitution but that doesn't change the fact that he was elected by the minority.

How many governments of major countries in the world actually use proportional representation?

[Riddlez]

In Europe... a lot.... Of course there are some practical rules such as a minimum percentage required of voting which gives a little boost to the bigger parties for the sake of practicality.... Some parliaments (like in Turkey) have a seat bonus to the largest party... again for practical purposes... The systems of the UK and US are kind of retarded though and the way of organising them is obsolete and could indeed be much more democratic than it is today.... though the ruling arguments are "hurrd muh consurvatism" and "It's worked for so long why change it"

[Karth]

Muh constitution is purfect hur durr.
I know it's in the constitution but that doesn't change the fact that he was elected by the minority.

That doesn't change the fact that America is the greatest country in the world with the greatest democracy ever 
But for real, this was setup to protect states rights, otherwise you'd have a few of the largest states deciding the election every year.  And states are still a thing, for example California probably didn't like the tax reform being passed because they have one of the highest state and local taxes (like 10% compared to my state 3%), and is just one of many reasons they'd prefer democrats (Florida the opposite with none).  So combine that with different cultural viewpoints (Bible belt, Appalachia, etc..) and a whole lot of embedded political reasons this system allows for their votes to matter.

Dems and republicans have won from minority popular vote, it ain't gonna change anytime (unless it's true and in 30 years we see 75% of the population in cities)

[Furrnox]

No. What you just mentioned is why you have senators & house representatives, the electoral college is just a scam.

[Toffee]

I looked back at election results all the way to 1945 and not once has anybody got a vote share above 50% meaning, if we governed by proportional representation, no government would have had a majority. This is for the UK btw.

[Furrnox]

That's why most countries with proportional voting have coalitions, just like how Conservatives now relies on DUP to get anything through parliament.
But there are generally more functional and established alliances in other European countries.

[Toffee]

That's why most countries with proportional voting have coalitions, just like how Conservatives now relies on DUP to get anything through parliament.

Which is why nobody ever gets anything done and voters are never left satisfied. If I vote for a party I don’t want somebody else holding them to ransom 24/7 over their major policy promises

[Furrnox]

A coalition generally make promises together and compensate to a degree it makes for more centrist politics for sure which can be boring in some cases but it's more democratic from my point of view therefore I find it better.

[Toffee]

The UK has literally been a testimony over the past few government terms to how much a coalition can fuck shit up