2016 Election

[it]

Originally Posted by BigV

Just to be clear, the problem is for the voters, who are angry. The gerrymandered districts, which are the real problem, are the intentional product of the hard work of the politicians.

Eh. Sure - gerrymandering, the electoral college, first-past-the-post /winner-takes-all voting... There are many hindrances on the way to a more democratic system.

But I doubt having a more democratic system in place would solve many of your problems.

Instead they create muddy middle grounds, on one hand it would be much harder for one party to monopolize The House and cockblock every move of the other party, because when things are more democratic there are often smaller parties you can sway instead... On the other hand that becomes the standard procedure since the "ruling party" can't really monopolize it either, so every single move requires a lot of I scratch your back you scratch mine, every executive act becomes an awkward multi-party negotiation, thus voting one way or another on matters that the small party blocks voter's did not cast their votes about and might very well have completely different opinions. A more democratic election system can very easily result in a government that does a worst job in executing the will of the people then otherwise.

p.s.
I am not yet a 100% sure if the above is devil advocating or me changing my mind, I usually argue the exact opposite.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by traceur

p.s.
I am not yet a 100% sure if the above is devil advocating or me changing my mind, I usually argue the exact opposite.

We call it flip-flopping. It's a sport here. Maybe you could go pro.

[it]

Originally Posted by sexobon

We call it flip-flopping. It's a sport here. Maybe you could go pro.

...For politicians, having consistent opinions between the time you run to get elected for describing what you think you should do and the time you actually get elected to do what you think you should do... Makes you a good representative.

For everyone else, not changing your opinion when you find a good enough reason to change it makes you an unreasonable human being.

Except ofcourse, the "for everyone else" bit is stupid, it applies equally to politicians, and creates an interesting result where what makes them good representatives also makes them unreasonable human beings. But just for kicks and/or potential point conveying, and mostly to see how you'd react, I am going to leave the "for everyone else" bit in there despite changing my mind about it mid post.