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To add to this, you may even be able to say that India is more democratic than the US in some aspects. The US electoral system often means that some people have

To add to this, you may even be able to say that India is more democratic than the US in some aspects. The US electoral system often means that some people have a much more powerful vote than others depending on where they live. Gerrymandering is another aspect of this. In India politicians often do not represent the views of their voters because they are often elected based on identity, not policies. The key thing to note here is that this is not due to the structure of the system (which is democratic); rather; it is due to how the game is played -- no amount of improvements to the system (short of a direct democracy?) or laws can change this since this is a matter of how the people are voting.

lake99 10y ago
You covered both points, gerrymandering and (sectarian) identity politics. I don't think there is a better or worse here. They both suck in their own unique ways. But I agree that India is more democratic than the US. We have many parties to choose from. Direct democracy is not a solution either. That will lead us straight to the tyranny of the majority. The religious and intellectual minorities will suffer straight-away. I won't elaborate on that. Next, it will be the wealthy. What would stop the illiterate majority from voting to take away all the wealth of the 1%? The only way out I see is with the Supreme Court taking drastic measures to clean up the constitution. I don't see that happening in our lifetimes.
- Manishearth 10y ago
  Agreed; my point was more of that they are comparably bad; India is not orders of magnitude worse. By some yardsticks, India is better, by others the US is. That should be enough to call India a democracy (if you call the US one). Totally agree that direct democracy won't help. I'm saying it is the only way that you have a chance of getting rid of the kind of identity politics present in India by changing the system itself. I made that point just to highlight how the undemocratic nature of identity politics was not a feature of the system. I mean, with a direct democracy propaganda can and will still entice people to vote against their own interests, and minorities will be in a bad situation as you said. It introduces new problems; but it is the one way you have a chance of getting rid of this problem (identity politics) by changing the system. The actual fix for this lies in social change.

lake99 10y ago

You covered both points, gerrymandering and (sectarian) identity politics. I don't think there is a better or worse here. They both suck in their own unique ways. But I agree that India is more democratic than the US. We have many parties to choose from. Direct democracy is not a solution either. That will lead us straight to the tyranny of the majority. The religious and intellectual minorities will suffer straight-away. I won't elaborate on that. Next, it will be the wealthy. What would stop the illiterate majority from voting to take away all the wealth of the 1%? The only way out I see is with the Supreme Court taking drastic measures to clean up the constitution. I don't see that happening in our lifetimes.

Manishearth 10y ago
Agreed; my point was more of that they are comparably bad; India is not orders of magnitude worse. By some yardsticks, India is better, by others the US is. That should be enough to call India a democracy (if you call the US one). Totally agree that direct democracy won't help. I'm saying it is the only way that you have a chance of getting rid of the kind of identity politics present in India by changing the system itself. I made that point just to highlight how the undemocratic nature of identity politics was not a feature of the system. I mean, with a direct democracy propaganda can and will still entice people to vote against their own interests, and minorities will be in a bad situation as you said. It introduces new problems; but it is the one way you have a chance of getting rid of this problem (identity politics) by changing the system. The actual fix for this lies in social change.