Problems w/ republics and democracies
Central paradox of democracy
How do you enable the majority to govern while also keep it from infringing on the rights of the minority?
How bad voter ignorance is
What is it depends on whether you subscribe to the delegate model or trustee model of representation?
Another ironic problem w/ democracy
"Democracy doesn't so much eliminate the possibility of tyranny as it does replace it with the possibility of tyrannical majorities."
Vote more diluted
What is something that happens to you when you are in a democracy instead of a republic (because you are in a larger group instead of just one chunk out of several)?
Problem with (direct) democracy
What is most voters don't know something about govt and politics?
Short time horizons
Other dislikers of (direct) democracy
Who were Plato and Socrates?
Problem with representative democracy
What is it is hard to keep tract of our reps and make sure they're looking out for our best interests?
People who tend to vote
Who are the people who are most knowledgeable or at least the most passionate?
One reason term limits might be good
What is at some point incumbents get so much power they become practically unbeatable?
French government after overthrowing the monarchy
What had far fewer checks and balances than the US does, with no limits on the assembly's power and no 2nd legislative branch?
Compulsory voting
What is if you don't vote you get fined?
Delegate model of representation
What is where your representative votes based on what you and your fellow constituents want (this debate also comes up in debates over govt transparency and when one is torn between voting for what your group wants and what the whole nation wants)?
Condorcet Paradox
What is you can rig the election system if there are an odd number of candidates by the order in which you have candidates face off head to head?
Democracy
What is a system of government in which ? make political decisions and exercise power (characterized by competition, participation, and maybe liberal rights)?
Downside of compulsory voting
What is you can force people to vote but you can't force them to learn; in other words, this might lead to uptick in voter ignorance?
Trustee model of representation
What is where reps vote in their constituents' place based on what they themselves think is best, the argument for this model being that they are specialists and know better than we do?
Who is the person who picks the order of the votes and thus determines the winner?
Republic
What is the form of government where rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by others and where people hold the power to make decisions indirectly (i.e. through their reps)?