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I'm playing devil's advocate, but isn't it the proof that democracy is functioning? Where I live, I believe a majority of people are for harsher sentences, or

I'm playing devil's advocate, but isn't it the proof that democracy is functioning? Where I live, I believe a majority of people are for harsher sentences, or even death penalty (which was abolished a long time ago against popular opinion). I find it sad because I think it's both cruel and ineffective, but I often wonder how to reconcile this view with the idea of democracy.

VLM 11y ago
democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch.
- hwstar 11y ago
  If the Opulent Minority has to be sacrificed in order for the country to move forward, and the Opulent Minority is the lamb, then I guess the populous is going to have lamb for lunch. This is why king Luis XIV was "Shortened a little bit". (Apologies to Alan Sherman).
coldpie 11y ago
Well, we don't live in a straight democracy. The constitution declares "cruel and unusual punishment" to be forbidden. I don't think it's a stretch to consider effectively ruining the rest of someone's adult life because they sold some drugs once to be cruel. In this case, the voters' will should be overridden in favor of the limits placed by the constitution.
maxerickson 11y ago
There is nothing particularly virtuous about democratic use of power. It's frequently better than the alternatives, but still plenty capable of evil. So democracy functioning is probably better than many of the alternatives, but it isn't a great end goal and shouldn't be surprising that it leaves much to be desired.
pyre 11y ago
Well, at the same time most politicians are more concerns with stoking the flames of ignorance and hate as it's a tried and true method to get votes. So these people remain with their ignorance opinions because public figures are encouraging them to keep them.
realquick81 11y ago
> but isn't it the proof that democracy is functioning? Oh, so you like proofs? Princeton has a document you may want to read. It proves there's no democracy in the US. Enjoy! > The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/fil...

VLM 11y ago

democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch.

hwstar 11y ago
If the Opulent Minority has to be sacrificed in order for the country to move forward, and the Opulent Minority is the lamb, then I guess the populous is going to have lamb for lunch. This is why king Luis XIV was "Shortened a little bit". (Apologies to Alan Sherman).

coldpie 11y ago

Well, we don't live in a straight democracy. The constitution declares "cruel and unusual punishment" to be forbidden. I don't think it's a stretch to consider effectively ruining the rest of someone's adult life because they sold some drugs once to be cruel. In this case, the voters' will should be overridden in favor of the limits placed by the constitution.

maxerickson 11y ago

There is nothing particularly virtuous about democratic use of power. It's frequently better than the alternatives, but still plenty capable of evil. So democracy functioning is probably better than many of the alternatives, but it isn't a great end goal and shouldn't be surprising that it leaves much to be desired.

pyre 11y ago

Well, at the same time most politicians are more concerns with stoking the flames of ignorance and hate as it's a tried and true method to get votes. So these people remain with their ignorance opinions because public figures are encouraging them to keep them.

realquick81 11y ago

> but isn't it the proof that democracy is functioning? Oh, so you like proofs? Princeton has a document you may want to read. It proves there's no democracy in the US. Enjoy! > The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/fil...