The Right To Vote is MEANINGLESS Without The Right To Representation

[ZombieGak]

The test of moral legitimacy of government was brilliantly stated in the Declaration of Independence: "Government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed."

The method to measure that consent is democracy.

Yet in that light the US has to have the most dysfunctional "democracy" in the western industrial world. The Constitution is largely a system of vote-weighting schemes that allows for anti-democratic results as we saw in Election 2000. The Senate is an anti-democratic institution that now gives about 17% of the population a majority of seats. Yet it can pack the federal judiciary and enter the US into international treaties. In the past 3 elections, more voted for Democratic senators than for the GOP but since the system is rigged, the GOP holds power. A mere 3.5% of the population in the 12 smallest states now can block any amendment. The population of the 36 smallest states needed to ratify any amendment contain about 36% of the US population. Toss in our antiquated "first past the post" method of elections and Gerrymandering... it's no wonder the US is such a backwater compared to Europe.

Our system is incapable of accurately measuring the will of the People.

As a Progressive I can vote FOREVER in this system and I will NEVER get any representation for my beliefs. Perhaps more scandalous is that our two major parties lack the principles and intellectual courage to raise these legitimate issues.

[ZombieGak]

1. bump.......

Sometimes topics worth discussing get buried in DU's mega-forums.