Is it time for the USA to transition from governing as a democratic republic to a social democracy?

[Hiraeth]

Are we, as a nation, willing to consider the possibility?

If you want the most technical term, our country is a constitutionally limited representative democratic republic. Our form of government, the constitution limits the power of government. We elect representatives, so it's not a pure democracy. But we do elect them by majority rule so it is democratic. And the form of, the infrastructure, the total form of government, is republican, it is a republic.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/03/usa-democracy-or-republic

Social democracy is a political ideology that officially has as its goal the establishment of democratic socialism through reformist and gradualist methods.[1] Alternatively, social democracy is defined as a policy regime involving a universal welfare state and collective bargaining schemes within the framework of a capitalist economy. It is often used in this manner to refer to the social models and economic policies prominent in Western and Northern Europe during the latter half of the 20th century.[2][3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

[merrily]

1. With the internet, it may soon be time to become a real democracy, like

Ancient Athens on both the state and federal levels. Elect an archon, allow him or her a reasonable budget for staff, and vote directly on every issue.

The politicians and bureaucrats may prefer to kill us first, but just think about it.

[Hiraeth]

2. Voting via our computers? Good-bye electoral college?

Electoral College
The United States Electoral College is the institution that officially elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. The President and Vice President are not elected directly by the voters. Instead, they are elected by "electors" who are chosen by popular vote on a state-by-state basis.

Reference: en.wikipedia.org/...ctoral_College_(United_States)

[merrily]

3. No, the electoral college can stay. What I am saying is so much huger than elections, though.

[Hiraeth]

4. Yes, I understand the "every issue" phrase but, since computers can tabulate so quickly

is there any need for the electoral college? Wouldn't this form of voting make the electoral college obsolete and unnecessary?

[merrily]

6. Whether the electoral goes or stays is not important to me.

No, there would be no need for it, in theory, but getting rid of it would piss off the less populated states and put an obstacle in the way of an idea that, otherwise, only politicians and bureaucrats might oppose.

Put a real democracy in place and the popular vote could get rid of the electoral college later, if that's what they want.

[Hiraeth]

8. Real Democracy

Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works (American Politics and Political Economy Series)

Relying on an astounding collection of more than three decades of firsthand research, Frank M. Bryan examines one of the purest forms of American democracy, the New England town meeting. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them. And although these meetings are natural laboratories for democracy, very few scholars have systematically investigated them.

A nationally recognized expert on this topic, Bryan has now done just that. Studying 1,500 town meetings in his home state of Vermont, he and his students recorded a staggering amount of data about them--238,603 acts of participation by 63,140 citizens in 210 different towns. Drawing on this evidence as well as on evocative "witness" accounts--from casual observers to no lesser a light than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn--Bryan paints a vivid picture of how real democracy works. Among the many fascinating questions he explores: why attendance varies sharply with town size, how citizens resolve conflicts in open forums, and how men and women behave differently in town meetings. In the end, Bryan interprets this brand of local government to find evidence for its considerable staying power as the most authentic and meaningful form of direct democracy.

Giving us a rare glimpse into how democracy works in the real world, Bryan presents here an unorthodox and definitive book on this most cherished of American institutions.

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Democracy-American-Politics-Political/dp/0226077969

[merrily]

9. Ancient Athens was a real democracy. If you are electing legislators, you are still in republic mode

ala Ancient Rome and the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy

[Cheese Sandwich]

5. You can be a democratic republic and a social democracy at the same time.

Those are not mutually exclusive terms.

If the question is should we vote for social democracy right now, then the answer is yes.

[Hiraeth]

7. Will you expand on your comment, please.

[Cheese Sandwich]

10. Democratic republic describes a form of government

Social democracy describes an economic arrangement where the government heavily regulates capitalist businesses and there are great public services and social safety net policies.

So when you ask should we switch from democratic republic to social democracy it doesn't quite make sense because they go together. I think all existing social democracies are also democratic republics.

But also people don't always agree on these definitions so it's not that big a deal.

[world wide wally]

11. We definitely need to tweek a few things

Getting rid of the electoral college and gerrymandering come to mind. And Supreme Court Justices should be termed and not a lifetime appointment. Education through college and health care should be paid for through taxes like Social Security. State and National Parks should be a minimal charge for camping.
I could go on all day come to think of it.

[Hiraeth]

12. Thank you for commenting. Are we, as a nation, ready to consider the possiblities?

[MisterP]

13. better than ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism

[951-Riverside]

14. It'll be the same shit just under a different name n/t

[ananda]

15. No it is time for the USA to change from a corporate fascist oligarchy ...

and become a socialist democratic republic.

[Hiraeth]

16. You have a point there. Yes.